Pakistan back to international competition

Some weeks ago, the selection committee of the Pakistan Amateur Basketball Federation (PABBF) named 21 players for the training camp in preparation for the 11th South Asian Games to be held in Dhaka (Bangladesh) from January 29 to February 8, 2010. The players were selected after watching their performance in the 48th National Basketball Championship, ended in Lahore some days before. This move allows Pakistan to come back to international competitions, more almost five years after its last appearence. 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. And the last Pakistani participation to South Asian Games dates back to 1995, when the regional showpiece was held in Chennai (India). The coaching staff, the dates and venue for the training camp are yet to be decided. The announcement was made by the PABBF Secretary Col (retd) Naseem Butt, who is also the chairman of the Selection Committee, formed also by Col Aftab, Rasheed Butt and Khawaja Ghulam Dastagir.