Pakistan to host six-nation tournament in September

KARACHI: A six-nation hockey event will be held in Pakistan in Rawalpindi from September 2-10, involving Afghanistan, Oman, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Turkey and hosts Pakistan, PHF sources informed ‘The News’ on Sunday.

PHF sources said that Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) had issued the go-ahead to organise the event in Pakistan. The last time a foreign hockey team came to Pakistan was in 2011 when China visited Karachi.

PHF had been struggling for the last couple of years to bring international hockey back to the country. Last year a World XI visited the country and played one match each in Lahore and Karachi.

The sources further said that the federations of these countries had expressed their readiness to participate in the tournament. PHF has assured AHF that foolproof security arrangements would be made for the teams.

AHF has promised technical assistance to PHF to organise the tournament. The sources said that the matches would be organised in Army stadium and Shahnaz Sheikh academy.

A PHF high official said that they wanted to launch the Pakistan Hockey League (PHL) in 2018 but because of the hectic schedule of Pakistan team they were not in a position to organise it in the current year.

Pakistan are to participate in the 37th Champions Trophy in Holland in June, Asian Games in August and September in Indonesia and the World Cup in December. Meanwhile, Pakistan junior hockey team’s training camp has been started in Karachi at Abdul Sattar Edhi stadium. The training is aimed at maintain the form and fitness of the players.

The juniors are preparing to participate in the World Cup 2019. Pakistan were prevented from participating in the Junior World Cup in 2016 in India by the host federation’s delaying tactics. PHF is trying to send the junior team on a foreign tour to play against a couple of strong teams. It has contacted some countries to arrange a series with Pakistan juniors in June and July. PHF is waiting for their response, sources said.