Movahedi not in favour of nighttime training

KARACHI: Pakistan volleyball team’s Iranian coach Hamid Movahedi is not in favour of night training.

“That’s not an ideal time for the players to train. At night a human body goes to sleep and the players may get injured,” Movahedi told ‘The News’ in an interview on Monday.He was not happy with the situation of Pakistan where professional players fast during Ramadan.

“There is a very bad situation in Pakistan. Here players keep fast and so sleep throughout the day. They train at night, which is not good. In no other Muslim country, even in Iran or Saudi Arabia, do professional players fast in Ramadan,” Movahedi said.

“Fasting is good for everybody but not for professional players. When players fast they need one month to recover after Ramadan as they get too weak,” the coach said.The coach is also unhappy with the delay in holding of the national volleyball team camp for Asian Games.

“It’s very bad. We wanted to hold the camp for the Asian Games seven days after featuring in an event in Kazakhstan recently but it could not be made possible,” Istanbul-based Movahedi said.He said that Asian Games were very important and the players needed to prepare extremely well.

“It’s a crucial event. Iran, Japan, Korea and China are playing in the World League. Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Vietnam will feature in the AVC Cup one week before Asian Games, which will help them a lot. But we are in serious trouble. No camp yet,” Movahedi said.

He was happy with the growth of Pakistan’s team over the last few months. “The team is rapidly improving. We beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 in Kazakhstan recently. But it’s important to keep building the team constantly. We had a one-year plan but one cannot help when there is a break in training,” the coach said.

Movahedi is supervising the camps of Pakistan’s youth and junior teams in Peshawar. Pakistan youth team will feature in Asian Youth Championship in Tabriz, Iran, from June 29 to July 6. The event will be followed by Pakistan junior team’s engagement in Asian Junior Championship in Manama, Bahrain, from July 21-28. Asian Games are slated to be held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

The coach sees a very bright future for Pakistan’s volleyball.“We have very very good players in youth and junior camps who are surely Pakistan’s future. This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that a youth side has been formed,” Movahedi said.

He was also satisfied with his support staff, saying they are learning. “Pakistan’s young coaches are learning modern volleyball and it is great for the country,” he said.

In the next couple of days, Movahedi will move to Islamabad to hold senior team’s camp for Asian Games.“We have only one facility well equipped for volleyball training, the one at Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad. There is no good hall in Karachi or anywhere else in the country. It’s hot in Islamabad but we have no other option,” the coach said.