Fatima Sana confident of a good show in ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup

Karachi, 9 June 2023:by Nawaz Gohar

Fatima Sana-led Pakistan team will depart later tonight from Karachi for Hong Kong via Dubai to feature in the eight-team ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup. The T20 tournament will be played from 12 to 21 June at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Hong Kong.

Pakistan are slotted in Group A with Hong Kong, India A and Nepal. Pakistan will open their campaign on 13 June with the match against Nepal, after which they play Hong Kong and India A on 15 and 17 June, respectively. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals which will be played on 19 June. The final of the tournament will be held on 21 June.

Before team’s departure, the 14-member squad along with four reserves players took part in the 15-day camp, which was held at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi. The players under the supervision of coaching staff worked on various aspects of T20 cricket including improvised drills, nets sessions and scenario-based matches.

Before the camp, the players also featured for Strikers in the first phase of Pakistan Cup Women’s Cricket Tournament held in Karachi last month.

Six players apart from captain Fatima Sana have already represented Pakistan women’s team in international cricket. These include Gull Feroza (2 T20Is), Natalia Parvaiz (3 ODIs, 11 T20Is), Sadaf Shamas (4 ODIs, 2 T20Is), Syeda Aroob Shah (2 ODIs, 5T20Is), Tuba Hassan (1 ODI, 21 T20Is) and Umm-e-Hani (1 ODI).

Other than Aroob, three players – Anoosha Nasir, Eyman Fatima and Shawaal Zulfiqar have represented Pakistan U19 in the inaugural edition of ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in January this year in South Africa.

Fatima Sana said: “Our training camp in Karachi has laid a strong foundation for our journey in the ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup. I expect each player to carry the learnings from the camp and showcase their skills with confidence in the tournament.

“In Group A, we have formidable opponents in Nepal, hosts Hong Kong, and India A. I expect our players to approach each match with determination, resilience, and a never-give-up attitude.”

Squad: Fatima Sana (c), Anoosha Nasir, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Gulrukh, Lubna Behram, Najiha Alvi (wk), Natalia Parvaiz, Sadaf Shamas, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani and Yusra Amir. Reserves: Amber Kainat, Dua Majid, Fatima Khan and Rameen Shamim

Player support personnel: Aisha Jalil (manager), Mohsin Kamal (head coach), Muhammad Kamran Hussain (assistant coach), Muhammad Usman Shahid (analyst) and Rabia Siddiq (physiotherapist).

ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup Pakistan fixtures

13 June v Nepal at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, Hong Kong, 0600 PKT
15 June v Hong Kong at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, Hong Kong, 0600 PKT
17 June v India A at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground, Hong Kong, 1030 PKT

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MIES (Switzerland) – FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, and sports marketing and data technology company Two Circles today announced a long-term strategic venture that will revolutionize the direct-to-consumer market for basketball content globally.

Aligning with FIBA’s vision to make basketball the world’s most popular sports community and the strategic objective to enlarge the FIBA family, the partnership will see FIBA and Two Circles develop, market and commercialize a completely new direct-to-consumer offering under the Courtside 1891 brand.

The new Courtside 1891 product aggregates scores, streams and schedules from a wide variety of basketball events and leagues across the globe. This comprehensive content offering, combined with a fresh and unique new brand, represents a bold and innovative departure from the typical digital offerings of sports federations.

The initial launch product for Courtside 1891 was made available on limited release for the recent FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 second window of qualifiers, played in February across the FIBA regions.

The Courtside 1891 venture will enable FIBA to develop direct, long-term fan relationships worldwide and build a greater understanding of global basketball fan behaviors and attitudes to help create new products and strategies. It will also create opportunities to deliver greater exposure and visibility for FIBA competitions alongside pan-regional and domestic leagues worldwide.

Andreas Zagklis, FIBA Secretary General, said: “We are delighted to embark on this venture with Two Circles. Growing the global profile of basketball and unifying the basketball community is a fundamental piece of our vision. With Two Circles’ expertise in digital strategies that engage audiences and grow direct relationships with fans, this partnership has already provided a new digital platform that all members of the FIBA Family will benefit from and will create unprecedented levels of engagement with our basketball fanbase.”

Gareth Balch, CEO of Two Circles, added: “Direct relationships with fans has become a valuable currency as sports properties transition from the analogue age of broadcast TV to the era of digital consumption and distribution. As an international federation, FIBA has a track record of innovation, and we are excited with the impact our data-driven approach can have in pushing the boundaries and initiating FIBA’s next phase of media distribution and digital fan engagement.”

FIBA and Two Circles’ partnership, which will initially run until 2029, has seen Two Circles invest substantial capital to develop new digital platforms and create a dedicated team covering product strategy, sales, marketing, data management and analytics.

Live streaming via Courtside 1891 is available in all key markets through free and paid subscriptions via all major browsers and operating systems. While fans can currently subscribe to live streams of FIBA’s national team events, access live scores from almost all leagues around the world and view highlights from a growing number of competitions, the ultimate vision is to create a truly personalized content feed for each individual basketball fan.

As part of priority developments planned for the service, Courtside 1891 will also become a hub to discover live content on other platforms, becoming the easiest place for fans to discover where and when they can watch live basketball from a range of competitions. Through this, FIBA will be supporting its broadcast partners in delivering FIBA action to the widest audience possible.

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