West Asian Baseball Cup2017; Pakistan reached in semi-final for match with Iran
By ;Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: The defending champions Pakistan reached into the semi-final of the 2017 West Asian Baseball Cup after defeating Iraq 25-0 in Islamabad on other day. Arsalan Jamshed and Faqir Hussain scored four runs each, while Captain Sumair Zawar, along with Amin Afridi, Riaz Khan and Wasim Ali, scored three apiece. Umair Bhatti and Muhammad Majeed, contributed two runs each, while Fazal Khan chipped in with one run. Usman confident of defending baseball title for fifth time.Pakistan are ranked 24th in the world and fifth in Asia, while they have been the western division’s champions for the past three editions.Rafi has been playing baseball for the last eight years, although this was the first time he represented Pakistan internationally. “Domestically I play for Army and I can safely say that more players are joining baseball now. I’m just excited that I got to be a part of this team in this tournament; it has been extremely exciting for all of us.”Pakistani-Canadian teen left in intensive care after baseball bat attack.Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) is hosting the tournament while Nepal, Iran, Sri Lanka and Iraq are featuring in the event taking place in Islamabad. India was also invited but visa issues scuppered their participation. Centre fielder Muhammad Rafi was in buoyant mood after the match and said that the team is confident of defending their crown. “This match was quite easy. We have a decent team and it’s all about how we coordinate among ourselves. We’ve been the top side till now and we are confident that we will be able to defend this crown,” he said.Meanwhile, for Iraq’s first baseman Mohamed Abdul Wahab Ali, the tour has been a learning curve and he is hoping to come back the next time as well. “The tournament is great, but the sad thing is that we didn’t play too well. However, we are hoping to come back next year and put in a better performance. We need to improve our batting significantly and we have a whole year to do that.”PFB Executive Director and team manager Syed Fakhar Ali Shah lauded the government for their assistance in helping the federation hold an international event in Pakistan. He, however, rued the fact that not much is being done about improving the facilities in the country. Beleaguered Knicks finally get something to cheer about.“We only have two baseball fields in the country; the Pakistan Sports Board has set one up, while the other one is a private field. We have a lot of potential but we are not utilizing it to its fullest. I hope events like these can convince the government to increase their support in developing the sport,” he said. Earlier Sri Lanka and Nepal wins against their opponents on the second day of the 13th West Asia Cup Baseball Championship here at the newly-constructed baseball ground in Pakistan Sports Complex.
Nepal outclassed Iraq 13-3. Despite having the services of 4 Japanese coaches, Nepal looked highly rusty and in the first 5 innings of the match as they managed to score only 2 runs. They did score two more runs in the next two innings, but Iraqis remained in the hunt and it was the last two innings, which made the difference and helped Nepal beat Iraq.Anil Pariyar was star of the day for Nepal as he scored 3 runs, while Milan Thapa, Jeewan Nath, Achit Karki and Man Kumar hit two runs each and Rajesh Basnet and Binod Koirala one run each. Jaffar Hussain, Mustafa Layth and Martatha Sultan scored one run apiece for the losers.The second match of the day saw Sri Lanka trouncing Iran 23-0. The Lankans made a superb start and kept on dominating throughout the match. Sandan, Asanka, Nelan scored 4 runs each, while Iiresh and Naween chipped in with 3 runs each, Sameera scored two and Krishna and Sanah one run each for the winners.Earlier defending champions Pakistan routed Nepal 16-1. Zakir Afrdi, Arsalan Junior, Sameer and Arif scored two runs each, while Waseem Ali and Riaz scored a home run each. Denesh Singh scored the only run from the losing side. The India-Iraq match was called off due to non-issuance of visas to the Indian team.Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada inaugurated the championship, while PSB Director General Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, DDG Facilities Agha Amjedullah, Assistant Director Hostels Malik Imtiaz Hussain, Shabeena Aftab and others were also present on the occasion.PBF president Syed Khawar Shah said that “It is Indians fault, as if they had started visa process according to set criteria, they would have definitely given Pakistani visas. It would have been nice, had the Indians come and play in Pakistan, but we have to move on now. We have cancelled all the matches involving India and now it is 5-team competition, the semi-finals of which will be played on February 28 and final on March 1.”
