Pakistan - Players named for basketball training camp
The selection committee of the Pakistan Amateur Basketball Federation (PABBF) on Monday named 21 players for the training camp in preparation for the 11th South Asian Games to be held early next year. PABBF Secretary Col (retd) Naseem Butt, who is also the chairman of the selection committee, said the players were selected after watching their performance in the 48th National Basketball Championship, which concluded in Lahore on Saturday.
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The selection committee of the Pakistan Amateur Basketball Federation (PABBF) on Monday named 21 players for the training camp in preparation for the 11th South Asian Games to be held early next year.
PABBF Secretary Col (retd) Naseem Butt, who is also the chairman of the selection committee, said the players were selected after watching their performance in the 48th National Basketball Championship, which concluded in Lahore on Saturday.
Basketball will be making its first appearance in the South Asian Games since 1995 when the regional showpiece was held in Chennai (India). Besides the top 21 players, the selectors also named seven youngsters from the provincial teams as reserves.
“We have picked the best possible players for the national training camp,” Butt said. “I believe if we are given enough time to train these boys, we can raise a really competitive outfit for the South Asian Games.”
The dates and venue for the training camp are yet to be decided. “The Pakistan Sports Board will inform us about the dates and venue. On our part we have finalised the players for training and we can assemble the players within 15 days after being given the green signal to start the camp,” the PABBF secretary said.
The best possible and mostly likely venue with all the facilities to arrange the training camp is the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad. However, a training camp alone would not be enough to prepare the team for the South Asian Games.
Pakistan seldom takes part in international basketball tournaments and competing in a big event without any international exposure for players can be a drawback.
The last time the national basketball team took part in an international event was the first Islamic Solidarity Games in 2005 in Saudi Arabia. A large majority of the selected players was not even part of that team.
The next edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games is set to be held in Iran later this year. Participation in the Games plus another short tour would be ideal preparation for the national outfit.
Besides Col (retd) Naseem Butt, other members of the selection committee are Col Aftab, Rasheed Butt and Khawaja Ghulam Dastagir. The PABBF secretary said the coaching staff would be named in due course.
The national basketball team has performed well in the South Asian Games in the past. Pakistan were the runners-up in all the editions in which basketball was played — Chennai (1995), Colombo, Sri Lanka (1991) and Kolkata, India (1987).
The 11th edition of the South Asian Games will be held in Dhaka (Bangladesh) from January 29 to February 8 next year.
Players selected for training camp: Nawazish Ali, Pervez Khan, Muddasir Khan, Khalid Ahmed, Taglub Ammar (Army), Prem Shahzad, Ahmed Jan, Mohammad Akhtar (Wapda), Niamatullah, Ghulam Murtaza, Rashid Minhas (Rangers), Mohsin Khan, Ghulam Mustafa (Navy), Zahid (Habib Bank), Gul Hassan, Asfandyar (PAF), Arif Khan (Railways), Hammad Khan, Talah Amjad (KESC), Abid Hussain (POF).Reserves: Raja Asam, Usman Saeed, Khalid Ahmed (Punjab), Uzair Ahmed (Islamabad), Sajjad Ahmed (Fata), Shoaib Akhtar (Sindh), Waqas Khan (NWFP).