India, BD participation in IHF Youth, Junior Trophy ensured

KARACHI: The participation of India and Bangladesh in the International Handball Federation (IHF) South and Central Asian Youth and Junior Trophy 2018 to be held in Pakistan was on Tuesday ensured when the Ministry of Interior issued visa letters to Pakistan’s High Commissions in these countries.

“Yes, today the Interior Ministry issued visa letters to the High Commissions of Pakistan in these countries,” a senior official of Pakistan Handball Federation (PHF) told ‘The News’ on Tuesday.

“There was great pressure on us as we had to ensure the participation of these nations. We had got a high profile event in which not only six countries are featuring but referees and technical delegates from nine nations are also to arrive in Faisalabad,” the official said.

These nations have already made their reservations and along with Nepal they would be able to get visas in the next few hours, the official said.

The event will be held from March 10-15 at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad’s international handball court. Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan are the other nations in the competitions.

The under-18 players will compete in youth and under-20 athletes in junior category.The official said that Maldives and Bangladesh would land in Pakistan on Thursday (tomorrow). India, Afghanistan, Nepal, and referees and technical delegates will arrive on Friday.

On Wednesday (today) the organisers will meet to discuss important issues of the competitions. The official said that in the meeting it would be decided who would open and close the event.

He said that the touring parties would stay in top hotels in the city. He said that water-tight security arrangements had been made for the event.Last September Pakistan had been awarded the trophy due to the interest of Pakistan Handball Federation’s (PHF) president Mohammad Shafiq, who is also the secretary of the Asian Handball Federation (AHF).

The referees who will conduct the competitions include Eial Awad Yaser, Alzyyat Akram (Jordon), Al Wahibi Khamis, Al Shahi Omar (Oman), Kawai Norinage, Usui Ken (Japan), Alsager Mohammed, Al Sugufi Ali Mohammed (Saudi Arabia), and Sultan Mehmood, Asif Ali (Pakistan).

Posavec Josip of Croatia, Zain Al Abedin of Jordon and Ikramov Ulugbek of Uzbekistan will serve as technical delegates. This is the second time that Pakistan will organise the event. In 2014, when Pakistan hosted the event for the first time, the country’s junior side won gold.

During the competitions, a coaches’ course will be conducted by IHF expert Ali Raza Habibi from Iran. Mohammad Shafiq has been nominated as representative of the IHF and AHF to supervise this trophy. The opening ceremony and a cultural show will be held on March 10 at 6pm. The final of the junior category will be conducted on March 15 at 2:30 pm.