The National Selection Committee of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) named 18-man squad for Europe trip on Tuesday after conducting one day trials here at Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium, Pakistan Sports Complex. Chief selector Hanif Khan along with other members of the selection committee Arshad Ali Chowdhry and Khalid Bashir said in a press conference after that the team would start its tour with a four-nation fixture in Ireland. “The team will leave on June 16 for Dublin,” he added. The former Olympian further said that three changes had been made in the team which participated in the Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament and they earned second position after losing against World Champions Australia on golden goal,” he said.
He said that Mohammad Imran Junir, Mohammad Rizwan Junior and Umer Bhutta could not maintain their place in the squad. “We picked up the boys for vital tour after consultation with foreign coach,” Hanif said. “All the players are supper fit and they have abilities to produce remarkable results against the best sides of the world. We will do experiments with various combinations till the champions trophy which will be held in September and after that we will give the final touches to national team for London Olympics 2012, “he maintained.
Team manager Kawaja Mohammad Junaid said that it would a hectic trip for the players. “The team will participate in the Four-Nation Hockey Tournament in Dublin that would be held from June 20 to 25, 2011 and Four-Nation Rabo Tournament in Amsterdam from 28th June to 2nd July, “he said. Salman Akbar, who was away in Europe last month to play league hockey when the team was in Malaysia for Azlan Shah Cup, was picked in the final line-up. Senior members Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Wasim and Rehan Butt are also part of the squad.
PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa said that the team was selected after thoroughly evaluating the fitness level and skills of the players. “They were selected only after their passed their fitness test,” he added.
He said that it’s the selection committee which was given the complete mandate of selection and the PHF does not intervene in their selection process. “It is the best possible combination of youth and experience and its upto the players and the team management to give what they have been trained for during the camp training,” said he.
The PHF official added that the 2012 Olympics is the main target and these tournaments and training matches in Europe are the part of the team’s preparation for the Olympics. “We would be looking for the best possible combination who would challenge the teams like Australia, Germany and Holland and their European tour would held the team and every individual player to gain experience required before the big event,” he added.
Pakistan team’s head coach Michel van dan Heuvel will join the team in Europe and in the meanwhile the team will train under the supervision of Khawaja Mohammad Junaid. Bajwa said that the PHF is there to provide all facilities for the team’s preparation and for the purpose they would be hopefully playing at blue austro-turf next year before the Olympics while the European tour will give them an opportunity to play in conditions similar to London.
The players: Muhammad Imran (Capt), Salman Akbar (GK), Sohail Abbas, Muhammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Muhammad Tousiq, Fareed Ahmed, Rashid Mehmood, Muhammad Waqas Sharif, Abdul Haseem Khan, Muhammad Rizwan Senior, Muhammad Zubair, Waqas Akbar, Syed Kashif Shah, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi (V. Capt), Shafqat Rasool & Imran Shah (GK).Team officials: Khawaja Mohammad. Junaid (team manager), Michel van dan Heuvel (head coach), Shahid Ali Khan (assistant coach), Ajmal Khan Lodhi (assistant coach) Faiz-ur-Rehman (physiotherapist) and Mohammad Nadeem Khan Lodhi (video-analyst).
