All Pakistan Inter-Division Under-20 Kabaddi C’ship from July 26

KARACHI: Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) plans to hold All Pakistan Inter-Division Under-20 Kabaddi Championship in Islamabad from July 26 in order to pick players for the First Junior Kabaddi World Cup.

“Yes, we are going to hold All Pakistan Inter-Division Under-20 Kabaddi Championship in Islamabad from July 26 so that some good talent could be picked for forming Pakistan team for the Junior World Cup,” PKF secretary Mohammad Sarwar told ‘The News’ from Islamabad on Friday.

The Junior World Cup will be held in Iran in November. It was decided at a high-level meeting of the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) in Chinese Taipei recently. In the Islamabad event, around 150 players from Quetta, Sukkur, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Peshawar and Bannu will try to impress the selectors.

“After this event we will be going to hold a national-level under-20 event in which provinces and departments will also feature. That will help us form a formidable under-20 pool,” said Sarwar, also secretary of Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF).

To a query, he said that in Sukkur and Quetta talent could be found at school level. “Yes, there is talent in these two areas at school level,” the official said.

However, he was quick to add that the decision of holding a national-level under-20 event would be taken at a meeting on July 26 in Islamabad. He said that they did not have any such under-20 player in their senior side who could be inducted into the team for the Junior World Cup.

“We are going to form a completely new team for the Junior World Cup which will be played in the Asian style,” Sarwar said. “This talent hunt will help us form a strong base which could be groomed for future national duty. It’s going to be a solid talent hunt journey for us. We have good young talent,” Sarwar said.

He said that in August, National Championship (Asian style) would also be held to pick probable players to prepare for the South Asian Games slated to be held in Nepal from December 1-10.

Sarwar said that Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) had been assisting the PKF in its international events and for SAG preparations. “The PSB told us to give them a date for the camp for SAG. And we have told them that we would be going to hold a camp in August,” he said.

When asked whether three months were enough for SAG preparation, Sarwar responded in affirmative. “Yes, it would be sufficient. You know the players are in top practice. They will also appear in a number of national-level events and then will feature in the National Games. The departments will also hold camps for a month to prepare for the National Games,” said Sarwar, a former Pakistan captain.

The National Games will be held in Peshawar from October 26 to November 2. Sarwar made it clear that camps for SAG and Junior World Cup would be held at the same time in August. He also said that before SAG and Junior World Cup, effort would be made to invite Iran or some other team, both senior and junior, for a joint camp and competition.