KP, Chinese Embassy teams named for exhibition match [The Nation]

KP, Chinese Embassy teams named for exhibition match [The Nation]

ISLAMABAD – The teams of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa DG Sports and Islamabad based Chinese Embassy were announced on Monday for the upcoming exhibition football match.

The match is going to take place at Kunj Stadium of Abbottabad on 28th of this month; Jiang Han will lead the Chinese team while former member of Pakistan football team Malik Ejaz Ahmad will be the skipper of the host team.

According to the organisers, the China embassy team will be comprising Jiang Han, Jiang Qingshi, Sun Kai, Zhang Liang, Qin Wanggen, Wang Yang, Xu Wei, Zhang Dong, Ding Xuelong, Tang Jingfeng, Zhao Xuelong, Mei Jing, Zhang Chengjin, Li De, Hong Yuan, Huan Jie, Zhang Ming and Li Hang while Hile Jiang Han will lead the team.

KP team will be led by Malik Ejaz Ahmad while the other members will be Naeem Beg, Sulaiman Khan, Adil Khan, Sadam, Hamza Shabbir, Saifullah, Shahid, Hafiz Sajjad, Fakhar, Sher Khan, Mujahid and Aftab. Saeed Khan, Major Zulfiqar, Khalid Javaid and Niaz Khan will be officials whereas Fayaz Shams, Atif Khan, Wasif Khan and Cheema have been nominated as referees of the exhibition match.

Meanwhile, the captains of both the teams also met at Abbottabad. Chinese team captain Jiang Hon said that their team will also enjoy the traditional hospitality of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said his team will display the best possible performance and try to give fans something to cheer about. He also expected to have an interesting match.

Malik Ejaz Ahmad, who is going to represent KP team, said that it would be the first experience for his team to compete against a foreign team. “We are confident to perform to the best of our abilities. Such matches help in further cementing friendships and this is the best opportunity for the people of Hazara Division in particular to contribute in taking the Pak-China friendship to new horizons,” he added.

Published in The Nation, 24 April 2018