Ex hockey great Shahnaz Sheikh is not very optimistic about our chances
Former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh on Wednesday said Pakistan finishing in the top four at the hockey event of the London Olympics will be a miracle.
Shahnaz said that based on the current circumstances, Pakistan’s chances at the Olympics do not look too bright.
“Being a Pakistani I wish that our team wins gold but by seeing the current circumstances it would be a miracle if our team ends up in the top four of the Olympics,” he said while talking to APP. One of the many problems the Greenshirts face is that they have not had an opportunity to practice on blue turf which will be used at the Olympics and also that their current coach had very little time to train the team.
“The main drawback that our team has gone through is that their Dutch coach Michel Van Dan Heuvel left the team before such a mega event and the new coach Akthar Rasool had very less time to train the team,” he said.
**Another weakness that Shahnaz sees in the team is the ouster of Shakeel Abbasi and Rehan Butt from the team.
**“The current team has new young faces in it which is good but the team will definitely miss Shakeel and Rehan,” Shahnaz said.
Shahnaz also believes that there would be a great deal of pressure on the newly-appointed national hockey team skipper Sohail Abbas in the Olympics.
“Sohail is a penalty corner specialist but for that you also need some other player to provide you a penalty corner,” Shahnaz said adding that currently the team’s from line is poor.
“The team needs to make its front line strong and should work on attacking hockey,” he said.
The ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, where Pakistan will face Great Britain, South Korea, New Zealand, Argentina, India and hosts Malaysia, will be a good chance for Pakistan to warm-up before the Olympics.
Performing well in Malaysia is important as it will help gauge the chances the Greenshirts have at the Olympics.
“Pakistan will have to face the same teams in the Olympics so it is important that our team performs well in the Azalan Shah Cup,” Shahnaz said, adding that Olympics is all about accumulating 10 points for Pakistan with three wins and a draw out of five matches, which is not impossible.
Re: London 2012 Olympics: How do you rate Pakistan’s chances in hockey?
As always delays due to incompetence of sports authorities in laying the blue turf in time have minimised our chances. When they knew that the hockey games at 2012 Olympics were to be played on this new turf, they should have completed the project long time ago
**India coach Michael Nobbs and his Australian counterpart Ric Charlesworth have both been critical of the surface that, they feel, is uneven and slower on one side besides being slippery. **
India and Australia are currently competing in a four nation test event in London and even though the two teams have had contrasting results so far, they have been unanimous and vocal about the poor nature of the pitch.
Charlesworth, who was the technical consultant of Indian hockey before he stepped down in 2008, has said that **the pitch was bouncy and that it did not reward skillful players.
**Nobbs concurred with him. Charlesworth was quite clear in his assessment when he said: ‘It (pitch) does not reward skill because sometimes you can get away through luck.
It is bouncy, it has not been played on enough and it will be like this for the next few months.’
‘Yes, I agree completely,’ Nobbs told MAIL TODAY from London. ‘They (Australia) have had six months of training on this surface and we have had just one game.
**It’s bouncier, slower and the pile helps the ball to be pushed one way (faster) while the other side is flat. It’s slippery as well and it’s pretty tough.’
**Nobbs, who has had a long coaching career in Australia, said the Indians might take some time to adjust to the surface.
‘We will take some time to get used to this - a lot more than I first thought.’
While Nobbs and Charlesworth have been unequivocal in their opinion on the turf, Australia have lost one of their key players – Graeme Begbie - to an injury he suffered after he slipped during his team’s 12-1 win against India in a practice game.
Nobbs further pointed out that there were some problems in the turf, besides some ball-handling errors by the Indian players that led to the team’s huge defeat to Australia in the practice match on Tuesday.
India improved their performance in the first league match in which they reduced the margin of defeat, 0-3.
‘The way we played in the second game (against Australia) is our normal style and the first game was to try and get used to the turf as we didn’t have any specific tactics,’ Nobbs said.
‘We played a longer than normal match and they played their entire squad of 24 against us and we played 18 players.
Six to seven goals were just ball-handling errors and the turf problems we faced.’
Nobbs, who took over as coach of the Indian team last year, was pleased that India has got an opportunity to compete against three of the best teams in the world, although he felt that there was still a long way to go for his wards.
‘We need more of these games and, unfortunately, it comes with some pain along the way as we get better playing against them,’ he said.
'They have a good club structure and they play each other a lot, so they keep the standard against each other up.
If they play the lower-ranked teams what happens is that they teach them how to play against them. The Indian team is improving but time is also our enemy.
Australia (already practising on the blue turf at the London Olympic Stadium … now that is preparation and commitment for you) not participating this time otherwise that would have been a major thrashing
Re: London 2012 Olympics: How do you rate Pakistan's chances in hockey?
Worst-ever Sultan Azlan Shah finish for Pakistan. Three-time champions Pakistan never finished last in SAS, this is the first time!!! Worst finish prior to this was sixth in 2007 when 8 teams participated in the tournament.
