Pakistan to host Central Asian volleyball in November

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will host the 8-team Central Asian Volleyball Championship in Islamabad from November 20.

Besides India all other teams have confirmed their participation in the high-profile event.

Ch Mohammad Yaqoob, Chairman Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) at a press conference at the Pakistan Sports Complex Media Centre said that all countries except for India have confirmed participation in the eight-nation events.

“The event will be yet another endeavor to popularize the game in the country. Our goal is to qualify for the 2028 Olympics. We have already started our campaign for that. Pakistan's international ranking has improved from outside 50 to 39 in the world. Over 210 countries are actively involved in volleyball. Our ranking has improved following our victories against Korea and Thailand recently in Asian events. We have to improve it further in a year's time,” Ch Yaqoob said.

For the very first time, the PVF has decided to field two separate teams in the two international events-Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in Turkey and for AVC Cup to be held on the same dates in Thailand.

“Both international events are being staged at the same time. We have decided to send two teams-junior and senior combination for two separate tournaments. The choice was with us as we had the option to miss one. In the end we decided to compete in both. Though the standard would be slightly on a lower side, yet it would be required exposure for all the leading players.”

Pakistan will also compete in the Asian Juniors to be held in Bahrain from August 22-29. “The best 50 juniors are currently training under the watchful eyes of the Brazilian coach at Wah. Our players average height is 6-5 inches. Coach is really impressed with some of the players who are outstanding at such a young age.”