Pakistan recall Salman Akbar for Asia Cup
KARACHI: Pakistan on Thursday recalled goalkeeper Salman Akbar for next week’s Asia Cup hockey tournament in Malaysia, which represents their last chance to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
Akbar, 31,starred in Pakistan’s Asian Games win in Guangzhou two years ago but was discarded last year.
The Ninth Asia Cup will be Pakistan’s last opportunity to earn a place in the World Cup to be held in May-June next year at The Hague in the Netherlands.
Pakistan have four times been world champions and three times Olympic gold medal-winners. But they have fallen as low as world number eight in international rankings after finishing in 12th position in the last World Cup in India three years ago.
They finished seventh in last year’s London Olympics and fell to seventh in the World Hockey League in Malaysia last month, an event from which the top three teams qualified for the 2014 World Cup.
The ninth Asia Cup will be held from August 24-September 1 at Ipoh in Malaysia. Eight times Olympic champions India, South Korea and the hosts are also hoping to qualify for the World Cup.
Pakistan, led by full-back Mohammad Imran, are in Pool A along with Malaysia, Japan and China.
India, South Korea, Oman and Bangladesh form Pool B. The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals.
Pakistan won the inaugural three editions in 1982, 1985 and 1989 but have not been victorious since then. They were runners-up to South Korea in the last edition in Kuantan, Malaysia in 2009.
Squad: Mohammad Imran (captain), Imran Butt, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan Junior, Mohammad Tauseeq, Waseem Ahmed, Salman Akbar, Rashid Mahmood, Fareed Ahmed, Aamir Shahzad, Waqas Sharif, Shafqat Rasool, Abdul Haseem Khan, Shakil Abassi, Ali Shan, Mohammad Umar Bhutta, Mohammad Dilber, Mohammad Zubair.