ISLAMABAD: Soon after the Taraweeh prayers end each night in Ramadan, a playground in Islamabad’s D-17 sector comes alive under bright floodlights.
The quiet residential corner fills with the thwack of volleyballs flying across the net as players leap for smashes and spectators line the edges of the ground, cheering and clapping late into the night.
Matches often stretch until 3 a.m., just hours before sahoor, the pre-dawn meal before the day’s fast begins.
Volleyball, one of the cheapest team sports, has long been popular in Pakistani towns and villages.
Pakistan’s national team ranks 44th out of 101 teams in the FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) Senior World Rankings and seventh in Asia.
