Hamid wants to polish Pakistan’s beach volleyball talent

KARACHI: Pakistan’s volleyball coach Hamid Movahedi plans to work on the country’s beach volleyball when he gets a break from other assignments.

“I have this in my mind. I know Pakistan has a lot of potential in beach volleyball and it can turn out to be a force in the discipline if rightly trained,” Hamid told ‘The News’ from Islamabad on Sunday.

“It is not resource-intensive as one team has two players and a nation can field two teams in each international tournament. “I am also a professional coach in beach volleyball. It is an Olympic discipline. It was part of the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics. What Pakistan needs is to play under a modern system and I will guide the players. As it does not require any expensive set-up it suits Pakistan,” the coach said.

“Karachi will be an ideal place. A court for the beach volleyball is easy to establish. I hope I will be able to build a solid pool for national duty in the area,” he said. Hamid on Saturday released national players from camp in Islamabad for Eid-ul-Fitr. He is preparing Pakistan’s senior side for the Asian Championship to be held in Indonesia from July 24 to August 1.

Pakistan have been bracketed in Group B with the last edition’s runners-up Iran, Chinese Taipei and Iraq.Hamid says he is analysing the strategies of these teams by watching their videos. “In the Eid break I will analyse their game plans. I am preparing the players according to the demand of the tough assignment. Our opponents are very tough and it will be very hard for us to tackle them,” Hamid added.

Iran’s under-23 team will participate in the Asian Championship. In Islamic Games, the under-21 team represented Iran and won the gold medal. “We will have to win at least two matches. Iran are too strong. Our main target will be to beat Chinese Taipei and Iraq,” he said.Pakistan will begin their journey with the game against Chinese Taipei on July 24. They will play against Iran on July 25 and Iraq on July 26.