Tough group for Pakistan to seize Olympic spot

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan faces a tough road to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024 hockey event as the green shirts have been grouped in the company of some of the best teams for the qualifiers to be held in Oman (Muscat) from January 15-21, 2024.

The eight men’s teams that will compete in Muscat are: Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Canada, Chile, and China. Pakistan must finish within the top three teams to make it to the Paris Olympics.

Pakistan have already missed two back-to-back Olympics (2016) and in 2021 (2020), more due to poor run that even relegated the team to No 16 on the FIH Ranking list. With just over two months left before the start of the Olympic Qualifier, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is yet to finalise even the coaches’ names that will take the senior string into the important event.