Pakistan hockey team to rest for two days

KARACHI: Pakistan senior hockey team will rest on September 30 and October 1 when Ashura days will be observed.

The team is training at Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium, Karachi. PHF has announced an 18-member team for the Asia Cup, which is to be staged in Dhaka. After the two-day rest, the team will train without any interruption till the departure to Bangladesh.

Head coach Farhat Khan informed ‘The News’ that the training had entered the final phase and the boys were being given individual, group and team-level training so that they are able to meet any challenge in the Asia Cup.

He said that there was separate training for penalty corners, penalty shootout drills and for goalkeepers. “The forwards are being trained in short passes and long passes,” he added. He hoped that the practice match against Japan before the Asia Cup would help the boys acclimatise with the conditions there.

Farhat said that they were trying to make boys tough enough to compete in big events. “Besides, the boys are getting physical training, they are swimming and doing physical exercises in the ground in morning,” he said.The team will depart for Bangladesh on October 8.