Champions Trophy, Athens Olympics are main targets](http://www.phf.com.pk/news_detail.php?ID=312)
LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is planning to hire a South Korean physical trainer for the Pakistan senior and junior teams to improve their physical fitness, disclosed PHF secretary, Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan, at the National Hockey Stadium here on Saturday. The PHF selection committee chairman, Ch Akhtar Rasool, was also present on the occasion.
Musarrat was informing the media regarding the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) meetings, which he attended in Ipoh (Malaysia) and Athens (Greece) respectively last month.
Musarrat said the PHF wanted the national sport to regain its lost glory and the federation would leave no stone unturned to achieve that goal. “The PHF will continue to provide the players with all the best possible facilities. They would be trained to be more aggressive and productive as the potential is there”, he added.
He also highlighted the performance of the Pakistan junior and senior teams in the recently concluded Egypt seven-nation tournament and the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. “Both junior and senior teams gave satisfactory performance and achieved a number of milestones in the said tournaments. The juniors’ performance in Egypt was truly remarkable. Not only did the team remain undefeated, it also scored the most goals”. The tournament also included India, France, Greece, Scotland, Poland and the hosts, Egypt. Poland, with 16 points clinched the gold while Pakistan walked away with the silver with 13.
“Likewise, in Ipoh Pakistan became the first team to have won the Azlan Shah Cup for the third time, Sohail Abbas was declared best player and above all the green shirts were awarded fairplay trophy”. He said Germany were the pre-tournament favourites because of being the world and defending champions. “But Pakistan turned the tables”. Musarrat, who is retiring from active army service on August 24, said the organizers of the Azlan Shah were all praise for Pakistan for live coverage of the event. “Germany is very much interested in visiting Pakistan for hockey”, he stated.
Replying a question, Musarrat said: “We cannot afford to be complacent. It is just the beginning and a lot of ground has to be covered. Players can take inspiration by these wins, but to improve their performance and regain the lost glory they will have to work really hard”. He said the main targets before the PHF were the Junior World Cup, Champions Trophy in Holland and 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Regarding the AHF and FIH meetings, Musarrat said Pakistan’s views on hockey were projected in those meetings and hopefully those suggestions would bear fruit in the near future. He said the future of women hockey was also discussed in those meetings. “Delegations of all the countries were unanimous that women hockey should be promoted at all levels”. He said he also visited the hockey venue of the Athens Olympics and four countries will play a tournament on that venue shortly to test it. The PHF secretary said during the Athens meeting it was discussed how to make the sport more attractive. “There was a suggestion to project indoor hockey as there are many other sports knocking the door of Olympics”, he said.
Answering a query, Musarrat said the PHF and the Indian Hockey Federation were very much interested in playing hockey but attitude of the Indian government was deplorable. “So, it is very difficult to revive hockey relations between the two countries”, he said.
“Several programmes are being launched for the promotion of the game in the country and hopefully they would be able to produce a balanced and tournament winning side”.
Akhtar Rasool said a more cautious approach, better training and planning were needed to cope with future challenges. “No nation in the hockey arena should be considered as a pushover. The difference between the playing countries has been reduced considerably”, he maintained. He said the recent victories were the result of hard work and personal interest taken by the both PHF president Gen Muhammad Aziz Khan and secretary Musarrat.
“I watched all the Azlan Shah Cup matches and feel that if Pakistan play all their future games with same dedication, commitment, discipline and enthusiasm they showed in Malaysia, I have no doubt in my mind that they will once again be a force to be reckoned with”, he concluded.