Pak basketball squad leaves for Maldives

LAHORE: Pakistan men's basketball team was scheduled to leave for Maldives in the wee hours of Wednesday (today) to feature in the five-nation basketball event which will begin from June 15 in Male.

Pakistan Basketball Federation (PBBF) said on Tuesday that after getting the official affiliation with Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) this year, the top management of the federation headed by Brig. (R) Iftikhar Mansoor and Secretary General Khalid Bashir took many steps to organise national events as well as to send Pakistan teams to international events.

The championship, involving Pakistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, is scheduled to be held in Male from June 15-22, Khalid said.

He added that this event will be helpful for Pakistan team to get good exposure in any international competition after seven years.

He said that the five nation international championship will be a door opener for talented basketball players to represent Pakistan.

The purpose of participating in the event is to provide opportunities to the players so that they can get experience as PBBF wants the team to win a medal in upcoming South Asian Games.

Khalid said that the federation was grateful to Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ehsan Ur Rehman Mazari and Director General Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Shoaib Khoso for their support to train the team in the camp for more than a month.

The Green-shirts will be led by the country's premier professional shooting guard Muhammad Shahbaz Ali. Former international Malik Muhammad Riaz will be the head coach and Umer Mehmood will be coach while Ahmed Ali Teepu will act as team manager.

The team was finalised after evaluation of the skills of the players by the selection committee comprising Col. (R) Shujaat Ali Rana, M. Riaz Malik, Modood Jafri and Khalid during the camp which lasted a month at Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad.

Pakistan squad: Muhammad Shahbaz Ali (captain), Abdul Wahab, Muhammad Umair Jan, Zain ul Hassan Khan, Muhammad Shahid, Imad Ahmed, Zia Ur Rehman, Saqib Ullah Mahsood, Mahtab Akram and Sheraz Aslam.

Officials: Malik Muhammad Riaz (head coach), Umer Mehmood (coach), Ahmed Ali Teepu (manager)