‘Hockey-5 last phase of Europe tour preparation’

KARACHI: Pakistan junior hockey team’s manager Tahir Zaman has said that the Hockey-5 championship would be the final preparation of his squad for the European tour which is scheduled in the next two months.

The Hockey-5 championship will be organised in Lahore, possibly from the first week of Ramadan. Talking to ‘The News’, Tahir said that all weaknesses of his players could be addressed through Hockey-5. “The main difference is that there is no penalty corner provision,” he said.

Pakistan hockey is passing through its worst crisis as the senior team has failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. The national junior team will play World Cup in December 2016 in India. All junior team players will participate in the championship, which will also have the members of the senior team.

Tahir said that Hockey-5 is the fastest version of the game. “After each 30 to 40 seconds an attack is a must on each side due to which the players and the goalkeepers have to be alert constantly and ready to counter attack,” he said.

A wooden sideboard will be put up due to which the ball will not go outside the ground at any time. It will rebound and the game will continue. Tahir said that there was no forward, no defender in Hockey-5. “No player is a forward and no one is a defender,” he said.

The chief coach is certain that his boys’ shortcomings would be addressed through Hockey-5. He said the endurance level which was going down in regular hockey would be improved through playing Hockey-5 as in this format the boys had to play fast and continuously attack.

“Goalkeeping will improve and finishing will also get better,”he pointed out. “Players have to make decisions instantly. They have no time to relax,” the chief coach said. He said that keeping in view the importance of Hockey-5 PHF wanted to introduce it at the grassroots level and in schools as soon as possible. “It will make our boys conversant with this style of hockey at a very young age,” he said. He said that Hockey-5 would be introduced in schools in 2017.