Baseball, volleyball teams to be part of Asiad contingent

LAHORE: Two more games — baseball and volleyball — have been included in the upcoming Asian Games as the final phase of the training camps is being started in different cities from July 19. 

Both the games are included after their officials assured the Pakistan Sports Board and the Pakistan Olympic Association some improvement in the ranking by producing better results. 

The baseball team has qualified for the Asian Games after winning the Asia Cup qualifiers in Islamabad this year, but the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) was not interested in including the game, despite the fact the country is among top six teams of Asia. However, later the POA made a strong recommendation for the game to get its inclusion in the gala. 

Competing against China, Korea, Japan, Philippines and Taiwan would give enough experience to the Pakistan baseball team in the Asian Games, said Pakistan Baseball Federation secretary Khawar Shah. 

He claimed that Pakistan team was in a position to upset at least Philippines and Taiwan to prove the country was also a major force of the continent. 

Shah thanked the government for providing a chance to the baseball team, for the first time, to show the prowess. 

Similarly, Pakistan Volleyball Federation secretary Major Mohammad Afzal also welcomed the move of the government of including the volleyball team in the contingent and assured for better results. 

“Our players are in great form and quite able to win matches against many teams to improve the ranking,” he said. 

Meanwhile, a meeting between the PSB and the officials of the federation, which would take part in the Asian Games is being held in Islamabad on Thursday to chalk out a plan for organising the second phase of the training camp. 

Besides volleyball and baseball, the other games included in the Asian Games are snooker, boxing, cricket (men and women), hockey, kabaddi, sailing, squash, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.