KARACHI, Feb 10 Billed to mark the revival of once popular sport at the national level, the Inter-provincial basketball championship begins at the PSB Coaching Centre from Friday with five teams of the four provinces vying for honours.

Being the hosts, Sindh will field two teams in the four-day contest which is being played on single league. The event concludes on Monday.

All the contesting outfits are affiliated to their respective provincial Olympic associations. The three outstation teams namely Punjab, Balochistan and NWFP are due to arrive on Thursday.

The details of the event were unveiled by the president of Sindh Amateur Basketball Association (SABA) Brig (retired) Rashid Ali Malik at a press conference held at a local hotel on Wednesday.

Prominent among others who were present on the occasion were secretary of SABA, Abdul Nasir, and president Karachi City District Amateur Basketball Association (KCDABA) Amjad Ali.

Commenting on the overall scenario of the game he regretted that it has gone down the ladder and Pakistan's last but one position among seven participants at Dhaka SA Games is one example.

He alleged that Pakistan Amateur Basketball Federation (PABF) was illegally constituted and efforts are afoot to bring a positive change at the helm of affairs.

The official said the Inter-provincial event will be followed by an all-Pakistan Kashmir Cup in the city which has contributed a lot for the promotion of game.

He also announced names of 15 veteran basketball players of the city who will be presented life achievement awards.

The players include Mohammad Ahsan Khan, Mohammad Yousuf Shah, Syed Musarrat Ali, Iqbal Ahmed, Mohammad Iqbal, Ghulam Akbar, Ghulam Rasool, Irfan Mirza, Mohammad Yaqoob, Mohammad Afzal, Iftikhar Bhatti, Sadiq Alvi, Mohammad Azam, S. M. Tanveer and M. Majid Pervez.