LAHORE: The Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) has urged the need to set up national training camp for this year’s Asian Games.

The Asian Games are scheduled to be staged in Hangzhou, China from Sept 23 to Oct 8.

“We have written a letter to the Pakistan Sports Board to set up the baseball camp for the Asian Games as Pakistan need immediate training because major teams like world champions Japan and world No.2 Taiwan will also be competing in the Asian Games,” PFB president Fakhar Shah told reporters here on Thursday.

“It is the responsibility of the PSB to set up training camps for all participating teams; so, hopefully soon a much-needed decision in this regard will be taken by the Board,” Fakhar said.

According to the PFB president, 12 countries would participate in the Asian Games baseball event. “Pakistan, who are [ranked] fifth in Asia, will play from the second round starting on Oct 1.”

He said Pakistan could make significant progress in baseball if the government and sponsors patronised the game.

Fakhar further said that a professional league in collaboration with the US would be held in the UAE later this year in which a team with the name of Karachi would also participate.

“Five Pakistan players will be part of the Karachi team,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2023