KARACHI: Pakistan on Monday announced a strong 18-member squad for next month’s Champions Challenge I hockey in Argentina, retaining most of the players who won the World Cup qualifying tournament recently.

Senior players Sohail Abbas, Wasim Ahmed, Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi, who played main roles in Pakistan’s title triumph in World Cup qualifying event in Lille, France, figured in the squad for the December 6-13 tournament at Salta, Argentina.

Pakistan Hockey Federation selection committee chief Hasan Sardar said in Lahore they were retained given their good show in Lille, which earned a berth for the country in the World Cup next February-March in India.

Pakistan will be led by Zeeshan Ashraf in the Champions Challenge I which has India, Belgium, China, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa and Canada as other participating teams.

Pakistan squad: Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmad, Zeeshan Ashraf (Captain), Sohail Abbas, Muhammad Imran, Waseem Ahmad, Sajjad Anwar, Fareed Ahmad, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Rashid, Shakeel Abbasi, Muhammad Zubair, Muhammad Zubair, Rehan Butt, Abdul Haseem Khan, Akhtar Ali, Omer Bhutta and Muhammad Rizwan.