13th South Asian Games: Pakistan to face Maldives in volleyball opener today

KARACHI: National volleyballers will begin their 13th South Asian Games journey with the Group B outing against Maldives in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Thursday (today).

Sri Lanka are the other contenders in the three-team Group B. India, Bangladesh and hosts Nepal are in Group A.

The top two teams from each group will make it to the semi-finals which will be held on December 1. The third and fourth position game will be conducted on December 2, followed by the final on December 3.

Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob on Wednesday said that Pakistan should not face any issue against Maldives.

“I think it should not be a very difficult match and Pakistan should win it quite comfortably,” Yaqoob told ‘The News’.

Pakistan have so far won two gold medals in the history of the South Asian Games in volleyball, having done so in 1993 in Dhaka and 1989 in Islamabad edition. The Green-shirts have won six silvers and two bronze. In the last SAG held in India in 2016 Pakistan had won bronze.

Pakistan squad: Aimal Khan (captain), Abdullah, Mubashir Raza, Mohammad Idrees, Mohammad Kashif Naved, Murad, Abdul Zaheer, Fahad Raza, Nasir Ali, Usman Faryad Ali, Farooq Haider, Hamid Yazman, Mohammad Usman, Officials: Kim Kyoung-Hoon (head coach), Mazhar Hussain (assistant coach), Sardar Mohammad Khan (manager).