Khawaja Junaid, manager of the national hockey team, on Tuesday predicted that Pakistan would be among the top four teams in the forthcoming 20th Azlan Shah International Hockey Tournament, which will be held from May 5 to 15 in Malaysia.
While talking to a group of journalists here at Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium, he added that the best hockey sides will be participating in the event including Australia, India, England, South Korea, New Zeeland, and hosts Malaysia. “Every team can produce notable performance in the Malaysian climate,” he noted. Responding to a question, the former national player said that the tournament would be played on single league basis.
“Green shirts will meet each team of the competition during the 11 days of the international event. We are well prepared for the mega event and will bring remarkable results,” Junaid said. The team manager said that the final selection would be made on April 28 after conducting a day trial at the same venue. “Former Olympian Hanif Khan is the head of National Selection Committee while Arshad Khan and Khalid Bashir are the members of the committee, which will select the 18-man team for Azlan Shah Hockey showpiece,” he maintained.
He said he wanted, as a Pakistani, to see the national team on top. “If our team remains in the top four, it will be a respectable performance by our lads. Players are in high spirits after winning the gold medal in the last Asian Games and the boys will show their class in the Azlan Shah,” he hoped.
“At the moment 22 boys are in the camp and four will be ousted from the camp after the trials. The training camp will continue until the departure of the team for the international event. The team will most probably leave Islamabad for Karachi on May 1 and fly for Malaysia the same day,” he replied to another question.
