Iranian analyst to assist Pak volleyball team

KARACHI: An Iranian volleyball analyst Farokhi Fard will assist Pakistan’s senior volleyball team during the next month’s Islamic Games and 2018 World Championship Qualifiers.

A senior official of the Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) told ‘The News’ on Tuesday that no terms and conditions regarding Farokhi’s services had been set. He said the analyst had agreed to work with the Green-shirts during the twin assignments. “It will definitely help the team. Eight years ago an Iranian analyst worked with the junior team. That paid dividends as we clinched bronze medal in the Asian Junior Championship for the first time,” PVF chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob said.

Pakistan recently hired the services of Iranian coach Hamid Movahidi who is imparting training to the Pakistan team in Islamabad.The Islamic Games will be held in Azerbaijan capital Baku from May 12-22.

World Championship qualifiers Central Zone will be hosted by Kyrgyzstan from May 26-28. Yaqoob admitted that the presence of analyst was very important these days. “We plan to develop our own analysts as it is the need of the hour,” Yaqoob said.

Farokhi is also serving the Iran national volleyball team. In the Islamic Games, Pakistan are in Group A with hosts Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Palestine.

The Group B carries Iran, Qatar, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.Two top teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.In the World Championship qualifiers, Pakistan will compete against hosts Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The winners of the phase will qualify for the second phase.

Meanwhile, the PVF began two-day trials on Tuesday during the camp at the Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad in order to finalise the squad for the two back-to-back international commitments.

“Yes, the trials have been started today and will continue tomorrow. But we will take some time before disclosing the final squad for the foreign tours,” said Yaqoob, a former top police official.

He said that around 18 players had been part of the trials for the senior side.Meanwhile, the newly-elected secretary Shah Naeem Zafar said that Iranian coach Hamid Movahidi had been working hard. “The coach is really working hard,” Shah, who replaced late Shahid Kamal a few days ago, said from Islamabad.

He said that in the camp some fine players had been undergoing training. A fighting lot will be picked for the important assignments, he said.After taking part in the Islamic Games, Pakistan will proceed to Kyrgyzstan directly from Baku to feature in the World Championship qualifiers.Besides volleyball, Pakistan will field athletes in 13 other disciplines in the fourth edition of the Islamic Games.