The trials to select an 18-member Pakistan junior hockey squad will be held at Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium on Saturday at 3.00p.m., chief selector Hanif Khan announced on Thursday. The selected team will take part in the inaugural eight-nation Sultan Johar Junior Hockey Tournament being held in Johar Baru in Malaysia from November 5 to 12. “I have seen the boys in action for the couple of times and I am confident that Pakistan senior team will be getting good replacement in future,” Olympian Hanif Khan said.
“Despite criticism from some quarters, Pakistan hockey future is bright,” he added. He said selection committee which also included ex-Olympic full-back Khalid Bashir and former Olympic half back Arshad Chaudhry would watch the boys in action and finalise the squad on the basis of form and fitness in consultation with team management. He said he had seen the boys in action in penalty corner drills and the team would be getting a couple of talented penalty corner strikers in coming months. “They are highly talented but raw at present and can be groomed and trained with strong work and guidance of the panel of coaches,” he added.
Following will be appearing in the trials:
Mazhar Abbas, Muhammad Safian, Amjad Ali (goalkeepers), Waseem Abbas, Safeer Hussain, Muhammad Umair, Hafiz Rizwan Ali, Muhammad Asad Bashir, Muhammad Arsalan Qadir, Faisal Qadir, M.Zahid Khan, Zohaib Ashraf, Muhammad Bilal Qadir, Abdul Qayyum Dogar, Hafiz Umar Sardar, Hassan Mansoor, Amjad Ali, Muhammad Dilber, Muhammad Adnan Anwar, Aleem Bilal, Muhammad Khalid Bhatti, Muhammad Mushtaq, Ali Hassan Faraz, Ahmad Zubair, Muhammad Bilal Khan, Abdul Karim Abdul Zohaib Khan, Ammad Butt, Asif Aslam, Arsalan Shirazi.