Junaid appointed head coach once again

KARACHI: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has once again appointed Olympian Khwaja Junaid as Pakistan senior hockey team’s head coach and manager. The decision was announced by PHF high officials at a press conference on Monday. Sameer Hussain will be the coach and Waseem Khan and Ajmal Khan the assistant coaches.

Addressing the press conference, PHF president Brig (rtd) Khalid Khokhar and Asif Bajwa said that the new management had been given te task to make the team qualify for the Olympics. The PHF president said that Rs100 million grant from Sindh government to PHF was great relief and PHF was grateful to the provincial government.

Junaid was coach of Pakistan in 2017, but he was removed because of unsatisfactory performance of the team at that time. Bajwa said that PHF is going to establish hockey academies to groom and polish the talented players at a young age.

He said that Olympian Shahid Ali Khan has been appointed head of PHF’s goalkeepers academy. Junaid said on the occasion that the new management would need some time to train the team to compete at the international level.

Chief selector Olympian Manzoor Junior was also present on the occasion. The PHF officials aid that the team management of national junior hockey team would be announced later.