Pak junior team’s ranking better than seniors

KARACHI: Pakistan junior hockey team has left the seniors behind in world ranking by taking the 12th place while the senior team is ranked 16th. The juniors world ranking was released for the first time by International Hockey Federation (FIH). FIH released the Junior hockey world ranking on the occasion of the official announcement of Junior World Cup 2023, scheduled to be held in Malaysia from 5th to 16th December.

Pakistan have been placed in pool D, along with Netherlands and Belgium. The pool is as Pakistan juniors have not played against European teams for long.

It has to be mentioned that Pakistan hockey is struggling for past few years and its senior hockey team is at its lowest world hockey ranking in its history. However, the senior hockey team has also improved its performance and ranking a little bit but due to not playing much international hockey matches its ranking is increasing at a slow space. It was previously 18th ranked but improved when it won bronze medal in Sultan Azlan Shah tournament.

But on the other hand the national junior hockey team emerged as a ray of hope for the revival of Pakistan hockey. It is pertinent to mention that due to fast improving performance, 8-10 players have been included in the senior team and several others are part of the seniors training camp.

The junior hockey team's better ranking is due to their wonderful performance in the Junior Asia Cup, where the Greenshirts not only clinched silver medal but also qualified for the Junior World Cup 2023.

It may be noted that Pakistan junior team’s ranking is better than some strong teams like New Zealand, Japan and England whose senior sides are ranked higher. New Zealand junior team ranked 13th, England 15th, and Japan 18th.

FIH says the junior world Ranking has been introduced with the aim of better reflecting the results of this age group (Under 21). The new ranking model is a tournament based system and will be constantly impacted by the performance of each new generation of athletes. It can therefore be used as a tool to evaluate the development of hockey in each Nation, FIH says.

For the Junior Hockey World Cup 2023, Malaysia is in Group A with Argentina, Australia, and Chile; Germany, France, South Africa, and Egypt are in Group B; India, Spain, Korea, and Canada are in Group C; and the Netherlands, Belgium, Pakistan, and New Zealand are in Group D.