ASIAN U21 BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Spikers to train in Karachi

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Iranian volleyball coach Hamid Movahedi and players will reach Karachi today (Tuesday) to kick-start preparations for the 2019 Asian Under-21 Beach Volleyball Championships to be held in Bangkok from March 16-18.

The camp will be held within next couple of days at Navy’s sports facility in Minora.

“Yes coach and six players will reach Karachi tomorrow to begin preparations,” Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) Chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob told ‘The News’ on Monday.

“We have requested Navy for the training space in Minora and hopefully in the next couple of days training will begin there,” Yaqoob said.

The coach and players will stay at the Navy’s complex. Pakistan will be fielding their two teams in the competitions, which also will serve as qualifiers for the Under-21 World Beach Championships slated to be held in Udon Thani, Thailand, from June 18 to 23.

Pakistan’s ace players Zarnab and Afaq would form one team and the other side would be created from the rest of the four players which will be put in the camp. The six players are coming to Karachi via train.

Movahedi, who lives in Istanbul, had left for his hometown on leave after Pakistan’s Under-23 camp was disbanded in Islamabad at the end of last month.

Movahedi told ‘The News’ that a fighting lot would be prepared for the continental event in Thailand next month.

Movahedi’s contract with the PVF will expire in March. The PVF wants to extend his contract and has already filed a request with the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). The board has not yet responded.

Movahedi has been working as Pakistan coach since April 2017. He completely transformed Pakistan’s style, making his charges to learn modern volleyball. His work paid dividends as Pakistan pulled off impressive wins against strong China and India in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia last year.

For the first time in Pakistan’s history Movahedi also formed a Pakistan youth team and worked on it for several months.