Pakistan are a nation of champions with heaps of talent and plethora of skills, be it any sports for instance cricket, hockey, squash, snooker, Javelin throw etc.
Recently a young Pakistan U-16 Volleyball team has brought glory for the nation by winning U-16 Asian Volleyball Championship (AVC) in July 2025 Thailand.
Travelling on the same flight from Bangkok to Lahore 20th of July 2025, a proud and triumphant Pakistan Under-16 volleyball team and their jubilant head coach spoke to “The News” after winning their first ever U-16 Asian Volleyball Championship, defeating the mighty Iran in finals.
U-16 team Captain Muhammad Irfan who hails from Shakar-Garh shared his experience with “The News” & told “All praise to Allah, we have won this championship, our head coach has guided us very well and shown confidence in us. In return we replied to this trust with supreme hard work in extremely warm and unforgiving weather conditions in Attock and Islamabad. In spite of very limited resources we have achieved success “
Talha Mehar a vital team member also expressed his excitement telling “Final victory was very special to us because we bounced back from behind, we were a bit over confident by defeating Iran in the round match, but Iran being AVC (Asian Volleyball Championship) defending champion and a fierce competitor, took the lead in first two sets of the match. Our coach Kafaitullah reassured us that we can turn the tables. We had a strategic team huddle and eventually we got our act together by showing our true colors defeating Iran in next consecutive 3 sets and clinching the trophy.”
This AVC tournament was held in Nakhon Pathom Ratchaburi (Thailand) and extended over 8 days period in July 2025. Pakistan U-16 Volleyball team started their campaign by outclassing a formidable South Korean side 3-0. Later they overcame Saudi Arabia and Chinese Taipei with bullish scorelines of 3-0 in the initial round of the tournament. In the following round, Pakistan trounced Iran 3-1 and topped the table, setting up an interesting Semifinal against the arch-rivals India. Iran vs Japan was the other semifinal.
Ruthless Pakistan U-16 team beaten India 3-0. Whereas, Iran won against Japan and was ready to settle the score against Pakistan in the final.
Comes the decider between Iran and Pakistan. Iran won the first 2 sets shaking Pakistan U-16 slightly , but Pakistan U16 team’s resilience, all the hard work done and resolute guidance by their head coach brought Pakistan team right back in the game, winning 3rd set. After this confidence booster win they were on the verge of creating history, achieving something remarkable which has never been done before. They were unstoppable in the 4th and 5th sets. Pakistan U16 Volleyball team remain invincible in the tournament and conquered the defending champions Iran in final 3-2. Scores of all the five sets of the final match were 22-25, 21-25, 30-28, 25-21,15-10 .
In flight communication with “The News” Pakistan Volleyball U-16 ecstatic head coach Kafaitullahsaid “ Its a landmark achievement, we trained for 2 months in Attock Army Centre, our boys were getting well trained, acquired real good skills and fitness. Later, we moved to Islamabad for the last month of training. We could not practice in Islamabad from the beginning because national team and U-19 teams were already training there, hence there was no space for U16 team. We were preparing for Asian U-16 Volleyball Championship and suddenly another opportunity arose to participate in (CAVA) Central Asian Volleyball Association Cup in Uzbekistan, but unfortunately due to lack of funds we were asked not to participate in CAVA cup. We then shifted our sole focus on U-16 Asian Volleyball championship, U16 boys started practicing with U19 team and even managed to win one game against them. Likewise, our U-16 team triumphed over an Army team comprising players with an average age of 24-25 years old. These two exceptional wins really set the tone for our U16 team giving them strong self belief and with the grace of Almighty we went on to attain U-16 Asian Volleyball championship.”
He further added “ This victory means we have also qualified for U-17 World Championship 2026 and we are very hopeful that we will deliver outstanding results in the future as well. We are grateful to our chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqoob, also a former IG Police Balochistan, and it has been with his efforts and passion for the game only that we could continue this far, as he has arranged all the funds and sponsors by himself.
