Dashed hopes: India denies visas to baseball team

MULTAN:

Pakistan’s junior baseball team will be unable to participate in the Asian Junior Baseball Championship after the Indian government denied visas to the players, Pakistan Baseball Federation (PBF) secretary Khawar Shah told The Express Tribune.

The championship will be held in Goa between November 4 and 11.

Shah said the Pakistan team had its first match scheduled on November 4, adding that the team was supposed to register itself for the event by Saturday (today).

The PBF secretary said the development comes as a huge blow to the players’ morale, who had been training in Lahore for the past two months. Team coach Usman Shaukat said the players had returned to their hometowns after the visas were rejected.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has also refused to permit Pakistan’s bodybuilding team to participate in the South Asian Bodybuilding Championship taking place in the country between November 2 and 4, Express News reported on Friday.

The Pakistan Bodybuilding Federation had earlier sought permission for its 15-member team’s participation in the event. The team members have also been refused visas by the Indian government.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2012.