20 women volleyball players to be trained by Iranian coach

KARACHI: National women volleyballers will assemble here at the PSB Coaching Centre on Wednesday (today) to begin their 15-day training stint under the Iranian coach Hamid Movahedi.

The purpose of the camp is to build a strong national side for future international assignments.Pakistan Volleyball Federation’s (PVF) secretary Shah Naeem Zafar told ‘The News’ on Tuesday that 20 girls will be trained.

“As many as 20 players will be in the camp. Three players each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have already arrived. Four players from Lahore will reach by Thursday (tomorrow), while the rest will be from Karachi,” Shah revealed.He said that it was more likely that a long camp would be held after this one in Lahore.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is going to host the National Women’s Volleyball Championship. Once it is held, a long camp is likely to be set up in Lahore in which players from departments will also be put,” Shah added.

The players from FATA and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) have refused to attend the camp because they say that it is too far away.Shifa Arshad and former international Masroor Yar Khan will serve as coaches along with Movahedi in the camp. They will be assisted by Nouman Uddin Khan and Kausar Kamran.

Shah said that this is the first time that a national camp for women is being held in Karachi.He said after preparing a good lot, the PVF would try to manage some exposure to the team through an international event.

Iranian coach Movahedi has been serving Pakistan since April last year. Under his supervision Pakistan men’s team featured in Islamic Games in Baku, World Championship qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan and Asian Championship in Indonesia, all last year. Pakistan also appeared in a three-nation event in Doha, Qatar, before proceeding to Indonesia for the continental event.

Movahedi is very keen to also work on Pakistan’s women volleyball. He has also trained Pakistan’s youth and junior teams for this year’s Asian Youth and Asian Junior Championships which also serve as qualifiers for the World Championships in respective categories.