A 22-member Pakistan hockey squad will leave for Beijing from Islamabad today to play a four-match series against China planned as a part of the celebrations to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Goalkeeper Ahmed Alam leads the side that will play the exhibition matches from May 22 to 26. The team consists of 18 players and five officials. Hanif Khan, Shahbaz Ahmed and Khawaja Junaid are the coaches while Brig Khalid Khokhar is the manager.
“The four matches against China will help us test some of our younger players,” said Hanif whose team will be undertaking a far more important trip to Europe later this summer. The Pakistan team will be returning home on May 28. After a short break the players will reassemble here at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium on June 1 to start training for their tour of Europe. The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has invited 30 players – 12 of them reserves – for the camp. The team will later leave for Barcelona to play a test series against Spain before competing in a four-nation tournament in Germany and another test series in Holland.