Pak hockey coach confident of good show in World Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey coach Shahid Ali Khan is confident that his charges will make their presence felt in the World Cup beginning February 28 in New Delhi.

Shahid, a former Olympian, said on Sunday that his team’s morale is high after a series of good showings in international competitions, adding that Pakistan will go all out for a place in the semi-finals at the quadrennial spectacle.

Pakistan reached the Asian Cup final in Kuantan (Malaysia) last summer and then beat European champions England in a three-match Test series in England. The green shirts then won the eight-nation World Cup qualifiers in Lille (France) but lost in the final of the Champions Challenge in Salta (Argentina) last month.

“We have been playing good hockey and I’m confident that the team will do much better in New Delhi,” said Shahid.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has announced the final training camp for the World Cup which will begin in Lahore from January 25.

According to the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), a total of 24 players will attend the training camp to be held at the National Stadium. The PHF selection committee has announced the preliminary squad that will attend the camp.

Provisional squad:

Nasir Ahmad, Zeeshan Ashraf, Sohail Abbas, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Sajjad Anwar, Fareed Ahmad, Muhammad Rashid, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Abdul Haseem, Muhammad Zubair, Akhtar Ali, Muhammad Rizwan (Army), Waqas Sharif, Umar Bhutta, Imran Shah, Kashif Shah, Muhammad Tauseeq, Muhammad Rizwan(Faisalabad), Shafqat Rasool, Abbas Haider and Salman Akbar.

Asif Bajwa (Manager) and Shahid Ali Khan (Coach).