KARACHI, 3 November 2006 — Pakistani hockey officials would be racing against time when they begin a campaign aimed at transforming a depleted squad into a winning unit ahead of next month’s Asian Games in Doha.
Just weeks after finishing a humbling sixth place position in the World Cup, Pakistan hockey players would assemble here at the Hockey Club of Pakistan to prepare for what would be their most important assignment in the near future.
The task at hand would be a tough one for the national team management: Pakistan win back the Asian Games gold medal in Doha in the absence of several key players.
Pakistan’s regular captain Muhammad Saqlain, drag flick ace Sohail Abbas, experienced midfielders Waseem Ahmed, Ghazanfar Ali and Dilawar Hussain have opted to miss the training exercise for the Asian Games to play professional hockey abroad.
They were a part of the national team in this September’s World Cup in Germany but would be overlooked by national selectors when they pick a 16-member team for the Doha assignment in two weeks time. The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) decided against considering the camp absentees for the Asian Games squad as a punishment for indiscipline.
We would be missing some experienced players but with the belief that some promising youngsters would get the opportunity to show their class in a major international event, PHF secretary Akhtar-ul-Islam told Arab News. The former Olympian appeared upbeat about Pakistan’s chances in the Asian Games. This team may be relatively less experienced but our target would be to win a gold medal in Doha, he said.
But his optimism seems far from being reassuring.
Pakistan have not won any major title including the Asian Games, a relatively easier competition compared with events like the World Cup, Olympics or Champions Trophy in recent years, not even when they put their best players in the field.
The team that would represent Pakistan in Doha would be far from their best because of the absence of the five players who had a falling out with the PHF officials.
In the meantime, defending champions Korea look set to field a well-oiled unit in Doha while cross border rivals India and even Malaysia look in better shape than Pakistan ahead of the December 1-15 extravaganza. Pakistan began preparations for the Asian Games early in October but the initial phase of the training camp was held without the team’s chief coach Shahnaz Sheikh. The former Olympian, posted in Jeddah as a top Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) official, was not released by his employers because of the Umrah rush in Ramadan.
However, he arrived in Karachi on Tuesday and would be supervising the final few weeks of training before the departure of the Pakistani squad for Doha by the end of November. Pakistan are to announce their squad for the Asian Games by Nov. 16.
