Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Basketball Federation (PVF) on Friday announced a national team for a five-nation international championship starting from June 15 in Maldives. After getting the official affiliation with the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) this year, the top management of the Pakistan Basketball Federation, headed by Brig (r) Muhammad Iftikhar Mansoor and Secretary General Khalid Bashir took many steps to organise national events as well as to send Pakistan teams to international events. “The five-nation international championship, including Pakistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, is scheduled to be held in Maldives from June 15-22,” said a spokesman for the Pakistan Basketball Federation on Friday. He added that this event would be helpful for the Pakistan team to get good exposure after a long seven years in any international competition. He further said that the five-nation championship would be a door opener for talented players to represent Pakistan. “The purpose of participating in the event is to provide opportunities to players so that they can get experience as the national federation has set the target to win a medal in upcoming South Asian Games to be held next year.”

Pakistan squad:

Muhammad Shahbaz Ali (captain), Abdul Wahab, Muhammad Umair Jan, Zain ul Hassan Khan, Muhammad Shahid, Imad Ahmed, Zia Ur Rehman, Saqib Ullah Mahsood, Mahtab Akram and Sheraz Aslam.

Officials: Malik Muhammad Riaz (head coach), Umer Mehmood (coach), Ahmed Ali Teepu (manager).