UK based Pakistani blind baseball players star at World Cup

UK based players who turned out Pakistan’s National Blind Baseball Team are hoping to reach new heights following their successes at the World Cup.

They secured the bronze medal at the 2024 International World Cup in England, finishing third among eight top teams worldwide. 

Blind baseball is played by five on the field, out of which two are sighted players.
Pakistan defeated strong teams in the group stage, including the United States (8-3), Great Britain (3-0), and Hungry (7-0), topping their pool.

In the semi-finals, Pakistan faced defending champions Italy, losing by just two points in a thrilling tie-break. Pakistan then beat Great Britain 6-0 to claim third place. Team captain Ghulam Sarwar was named the world’s best batsman.

This summer the club secretary Sheraz Chohan got the call-up from Pakistan’s Baseball Federation approaching them to represent the country in the Baseball World Cup due to visa complications for their players.

He said: “We beat USA, Team GB and Hungry which was something special. In the semi-final we came up against the Italians, who founded the sport 30 years ago. We eventually only lost on a tie-break and the game could have gone either way.

For the side and the players to come together at such short notice was brilliant and we are all delighted with their efforts.”

The squad was made up of Asghar Qadeer, Haider Shahzeb, Muhammad Zaheer, Amjad Khan, Tahseen Sabir, Arslan Sabir and Zahid Mahmood.

They were coached by Amjad Osama Bin, Latif Raheem, Saif Rehman, Own Aslam and, Shoaib Nazir, Amjad Tariq.

Sheraz who is part of the team added: “There were some World Cup key performances from Ghulam Sarwar, some great explosive running from Qadeer from base to base and all-round skills displayed by Zahid Mahmood.

There was also some exceptional fielding with the team being backed up by Arslan Sabir as designated hitters. We would like to thank Pakistan Federation Baseball Syed Fakhar Ali Shah to believe in this group of players and coaches to represent Pakistan.”

Lancashire Lions was started by Sheraz Chohan who has been involved in the sport for over a decade. The club began blind baseball only in 2019 after being introduced to it by Ghulam Sarwar.