Pakistan to have strong U23 volleyball team: Yaqoob

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) has planned to unveil talented youth in the Asian Championship to prepare them for future international meets.

PVF Chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob told ‘The News’ on Thursday that the Pakistan Under-23 team, which is ranked 22nd in the world and is amongst the top Asian teams, would compete in the Asian Championship in Myanmar in August.

“Following a series of trials and talent hunt programme we now have a pool of talented players with the height of over six feet, five inches at the junior level. They were trained under the guidance of an Iranian coach. We will have another leg of camp ahead of the competition.”

Yaqoob said considering available talent at the junior level, the PVF was confident of raising a competitive team for the championship. “Pakistan is a ranked Asian team at the Under-23 level and I hope it will beat the best,” he said.

As many as 18 countries are expected to take part in the championship. “All the leading Asian countries are expected to compete in the event that will provide an opportunity to train budding players for the Asian Senior Championship to be held in Iran in September. Juniors showing skill will represent Pakistan at the senior level.”

The PVF chairman said he was waiting for the announcement of the task force on sports’ recommendations. “Once the government announces the recommendations, the PVF will finalise its plan to host an international event later this year. “More than six countries with a majority from Central Asia have shown interest to participate in the tournament. Once we get the go ahead I am hopeful that eight to 10 countries from Asia will be seen in action in Pakistan,” he said.

He said the PVF had previously hosted more international events than any other federation. “Following years of politics in volleyball, we have finally put the volleyball development on the right track. Now we are working on the development of back-up players and hosting international events. Once we get a clear picture, we will announce our future plans.”

The PVF also plans to send two teams to the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship to be held in Thailand in March. “Pakistan’s performance had been outstanding in the previous meet and hopefully two pairs would live up to expectations this time.”