ISLAMABAD, July 23 The Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) has confirmed entry in the Asian Volleyball Championship to be held in Kolkata, India, from Sept 16 to 20.

“The event will help the national team prepare for the Asian Games,” PVF Secretary Major Mohammad Afzal said on Friday.

The championship will see Kazakhstan defending the title. Pakistan had claimed fourth position in the previous edition held in Islamabad in 2007.

He said that the Central Asian Volleyball Championship, in India in September, and the Al-Rashid International Volleyball Tournament, to be hosted by Dubai from Oct 8-13, are two big events which will help the team learn a lot ahead of the Asian Games.

However, he said that spiker Kashif Mansoor will not be able to represent the side in the Central Asian Championship because of a knee injury.

Probables Mohammad Usman, Zahid Bashir, Pir Bakhsh Yaseen, Asif Nadeem, Mohib Rasool, Naeem Jan, Shuja Abbas, Imdad Hussain, Hafiz Muneer, Naseer Ahmed, Farooq Khan, Mohammad Ismail Khan, Nasir Khan, Aimal Khan, Abdul Razzaq and Zaheer Abbas.

Officials Augusto Sabatini (coach), Faqeer Hussain (assistant coach).—APP