KARACHI, 16 August 2005 — Pakistan’s preparations for the 2006 Hockey World Cup began on a disappointing note when the Greenshirts lost all their matches in the Hamburg Masters that concluded on Sunday.
The four-time World Cup champions played and lost against three of the world’s top-ranked teams in the quadrangular tournament in the German city of Hamburg.
Pakistan began the first leg of their European sojourn with a match against hosts and reigning world champions Germany and lost 1-3.
Mohammad Saqlain?’s men came back from 0-4 down in the next match against Holland to produce some exciting moments before suffering a narrow 5-6 loss.
The next game was against Australia and the result was a 3-4 defeat for Pakistan giving them the last place on the points table.
It was a poor start for Pakistan in their buildup for the World Cup to be held in the German city of Munchengladbach next September as well as for the national coach Bajwa.
The former Olympian was effectively in charge of the Pakistan team for the first time since taking over from Dutchman Roelant Oltmans after the last December?s Champions Trophy.
Bajwa went to the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur earlier this summer as an assistant coach because the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) opted to promote former national junior coach Tahir Zaman as the chief coach for the seven-nation event.
A member of the 1994 World Cup winning team, Bajwa now faces another tough assignment when his team will begin its campaign in the eight-nation Rabo Trophy in Amsterdam from today. The event began on Sunday but Pakistan will get to play their opening game today. Pakistan have been placed in Pool A with Champions Trophy gold medalists Spain, Germany and India. They will begin with a match against Spain today evening.
Back in Hamburg, Holland completed the first leg of an attempted triple crown of tournaments with a title-winning triumph at the Hamburg Masters.
The tournament was the first event in a busy month for the Olympic silver medallists as they chase automatic World Cup qualification at the European Nations Cup in Germany in later this month.
After a pair of victories over Australia and Pakistan in the opening two rounds in Hamburg, the Dutch needed only a draw against home team Germany on Sunday to take the title.
Earlier in the day, Australia had defeated Pakistan to complete their three matches and keep pressure on the Dutch.
Holland fell behind twice in the match however before Roderick Weusthoff struck with a penalty corner goal with four minutes remaining to level the scores at 2-2 and secure the title.
Hockey action has now moved to Wagener Stadium in Amsterdam for the Rabo Trophy, with eight of the top men?s teams competing in what has been dubbed as a ?Mini World Cupî.
Competition started on Sunday with Spain and Korea both victorious on the opening day over India and England respectively.
For the European teams, Hamburg Masters and the Rabo Trophy are serving as warm-up events for the European Nations Cup in Leipzig starting August 28, where spots at the 2006 Hockey World Cup are on offer.
For several other teams including Pakistan and India, they are warm-up events for this December’s Champions Trophy in the South Indian city of Chennai.
