Pakistan juniors depart today for Asia Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan junior hockey team is set to play two practice matches in Oman before the Junior Asia Cup 2024.

The continental event is to be played from November 26 to December 4. The team will depart on Thursday (today).

Informed sources revealed that Russia, which is currently playing a test series against Oman, and organisers of the Junior Asia Cup set up the practice match for Pakistani team play against Russia. The second match will be decided when Pakistan players reach Oman.

“Playing against Russia and another country before the Asia Cup will be a good practice,” said the Pakistan junior hockey team’s manager Ajmal Khan Lodhi.

Lodhi also said that the team management is working on the grey areas they have identified during the training sessions, in order to have the 18-player squad well-prepared before the Junior Asia Cup.

“All the best teams of Asia are participating in the competition, hence we won’t take any team lightly. Every team is equal, so a minor mistake can prove costly in pressure situations,” Lodhi said.

Head coach Olympian Qamar Ibrahim said they are focusing on all key aspects during the training sessions.

“We are working on all important aspects necessary for winning matches. From individual game play to attacking strategies for the forwards, defensive planning, we are trying to have all the bases covered. The penalty shoot-out has emerged as our biggest weakness, so we are working tirelessly on that,” the head coach revealed. “At least seven players as well as both goalkeepers have been extensively prepared for the penalty shoot-out, where a player has only eight seconds to score a goal.”

He said that three players have been prepared for the drag flick. “We are also working on both aspects on PC, scoring goals and stoppage PCs by the rival team,” he added.

Qamar said that Sufyan, Bilal Aslam and Nadeem Khan have been prepared for PCs. Qamar further said that captain Hanan Shahid, Qayyum Dogar, Hamza Fayaz, and Zakriya Hayat are the main forwards prepared for attacking game.

He further said that Faizan Janjua and Ali Raza would be the goalkeepers. Pakistan have been placed in pool B along with China, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Oman.