In with an aim to deliver

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Tahir have an objective to help the team qualify for the Asia Cup

The newly appointed coach of Pakistan Hockey team, Tahir Zaman has made it clear that he does not have intentions to stay longer with the team and his only objective is to deliver in a professional way to help team qualify for the Asia Cup.

“I have no desire to stay longer for years and what so ever time I spend with the team, I will be endeavouring to inspire it to excel to a higher level utilizing all the energies and skills of team members,” he said here on Tuesday.

Tahir, an FIH master coach, said he has accepted the coaching of the team as “a challenge” in the line of a national duty and he will not be shifting the responsibility of the results achieved during the Asia Cup.

He said Pakistan will be playing the Asia Cup from August 24 in Ipoh, Malaysia and it is the last chance for the green shirts to qualify for the next year World Cup in Holland after their shameful seventh position finish during the recently concluded World Hockey League in Malaysia, out of eight team contest.

“It is not an ideal situation for any one (coach) and even at this stage if you hire world top notch hockey coaches, they will not be able to turn the sagging fortune of the team in three weeks available time ahead of the Asia Cup”, he said adding “My aim is to rejuvenate the team in professional ways. working on its gray areas of penalty corner drills, a fragile defence and drawing up combination at specialized positions and by that way we can expect a good show from our players in the Cup”.

Tahir sounded confident when asked about his plans to turn a demoralized side into a confident looking combination saying “Lifting the team out of gloom from its low position in the hockey league and then helping the players to reunite themselves and to strive for excellence are my top priorities in order to bring improvement in the team for its campaign in the Asia Cup,” he maintained.

The former Olympian said Pak threw away an ideal chance to qualify for the World Cup with its dismal show in the World Hockey League and now the team is on a brink of a cliffhanger for having just one chance to win the Asia Cup and to qualify for the World Cup.

“I have not lost faith in the players, still I believe that they can atone for their previous fault and they can help the team to qualify for the World Cup provided they play to their full strength and energy with a undying approach not to give up in any circumstances,” he said the coach.

He pointed out that South Korea and Malaysia which beat Pakistan in the Hockey league are the biggest threats in addition to the arch rivals India who are always a tough rival to beat.

“It is not a rosy picture for us and we are in a tight situation where there is no way out for us but to go all out for a win fully focusing on every match setting aside what happened in the recent past,” he added.

He said the presence of chief manager Akhtar Rasool will be an added advantage for him and he will be working under his able guidance learning from his vast experience.

 PHF invites 25 players for Asia Cup training

Pakistan Hockey Federation has invited twenty five players for attending the training camp from July 21here  for the build up of the team to take part in the 9th Men’s Asia Cup being played from August 24 in Ipoh, Malaysia.

The camp will be established at national stadium under the supervision of chief manager, Akhtar Rasool Chaudhary and coach Tahir Zaman.

Following will attend the camp,Imran Butt, Imran Shah, Mazhar Abbas, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Ateeq, Kashif Ali, Khalid Bhatti, Rizwan Junior, Muhammad Tousiq, Waseem Ahmed, Rashid Mahmood, Fareed Ahmed, Aamir Shahzad, Waqas Sharif, Shafqat Rasool, Zohaib Ashraf, Abdul Haseem Khan, Rizwan Senior, Shakeel Abbasi, Ali Shan, Muhammad Umar Bhutta, Muhammad Dilber, Muhammad Zubair and Muhammad Salman Hussain .