Hockey selectors take baby step towards Jr World Cup

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Pakistan on Monday took a baby step towards forming a ?balanced? squad for next summer?s Junior Hockey World Cup by selecting a pool of 36 players for training ahead of next month?s home series against India.

Chief selector Hassan Sardar told reporters here at the Hockey Club of Pakistan following the conclusion of trials that the 36 players include some ?talented youngsters who have the potential of becoming future stars?.

?We have selected players for training ahead of the India series and believe that it is the first step in our preparations for the Junior World Cup,? he said.Pakistan are aiming to win back the world junior title next June when Malaysia and Singapore will co-host the quadrennial spectacle.

Former Olympian Qamar Ibrahim is at the helm of the national junior team?s training and is being assisted by former Pakistan captain Ahmed Alam and a couple of other coaches.?There are some very good players in the list selected for the training camp. Players like Shahbaz (left-in), Shafqat Rasool, Muhammad Zubair and Haseem Khan have the potential to become stars,? said Hassan, one of Pakistan?s most celebrated strikers.

Shahbaz is a relatively new face on the national hockey scene and many experts believe he has the potential to become a world class player like his legendary namesake Shahbaz Ahmed, who was also a left-in.

The selected players will attend a brief training camp here at the HCP ahead of the trials to select a 20-man squad for the series against India?s junior team. The opening match of the series will be played here on November 12.

?There isn?t enough time but we are hopeful that Pakistan will field a strong side against India for the home series,? said Hassan, who watched the trials along with fellow selectors Khalid Bashir, Rana Mujahid, Farhat Khan and Muhammad Shafiq.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) had invited 80 odd players for the trials but almost 30 of them were missing from the exercise. Hassan said that the selection committee will inform the PHF about the absentees and recommend tough action against players, who skipped the trials.

?As a rule we will only select those players in the national senior or junior teams, who will appear in the trials,? he said. Hassan said that the PHF will not be compromising on discipline.

Probables? list: Goalkeepers ? Imran Shah, Khurram Majeed, Waseem Ahmed, Waqas. Defenders ? Kashif Ali, Ateeq, Imran Abbas, Adnan Javed, Mohammad Nawaz, Rana Akmal. Midfielders ? Irfan, Kashif Jawed, Junaid, Zaheer Ahmed, Rashid, Usman Triq, Amir Shehzad, Farid Ahmed, Khurram. Forwards ? Adeel Hussain, Ramzan, Hasan Akhtar, Salman, Tofeeq, Azlan Khan, Khurram Shehzad, Yasir, Haseem Khan, Inayatullah, Imran Malik, Shafqat Rasool, Shahbaz, Irfan, Muhammad Zubair, Rizwan Mohammad Imran.