SBP picks up 43 hockey players for top-level training

LAHORE: Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh on Thursday approved the selection of 43 players chosen from all nine divisions on the basis of their performance in the First Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey Championship 2021.

These 43 players will be imparted top level training under the coaching of leading trainers. The qualified coaches will further polish their skills so that these young talented players could serve the national team in the future international hockey competitions.

Sports Board Punjab’s 5-member selection committee headed by Secretary General Punjab Hockey Association Lt-Col (retd) Asif Naz Khokhar picked up the 43 players.

Former international player M Rasheed, ex-Deputy Director Sports Shahid Nizami, Divisional Sports Officer Multan Rana Nadeem Anjum and senior hockey coach Rana Khalid Iqbal were the members of the selection committee.

The 5-member selection committee selected 11 players from Faisalabad division, seven from Lahore, six from Multan, five from Gujranwala, four each from Sahiwal and Bahawalpur, three from Sargodha, two from DG Khan and one from Rawalpindi.

Goalkeepers: Hamza Shahbaz, Abdur Rahman (Fsbd), Haji Usman (Multan), Faizan (Sahiwal).

Full-backs: M Usman (Fsbd), Uzair Imran, Absar bin Rauf (Bwp), Sameen Munir (Srgdh), Zohaib Ahsan (DGK), Usman Iftikhar (Multan), Mehran Ali (Rwp).

Halves-back: M Baqir, Abdul Siddique, Tayyab, M Danish (Fsbd), Shamoon Sajid (Multan), Hammad Ali, Samiullah (Lhr), Ali Murtaza (Bwp), Sabihul Hasnain, Rafaqat Rafiq (Srgodh), Shahzaib Shaukat (Lhr), Hamza, Abdur Rehman, Ahsan Raza (Gujrwla), Rehman Ali, Raja Arman, Bilal Akram (Sahwl), Akbar Ali, M Arsal (Multan).

Forwards: Ali Raza, Shahroz Khan, M Ibraheem, Kamran Aslam (Fsbd), Hannan Shahid, M Amir, Hasan Amin, Haseeb Masood (Lhr), M Ahmed (DGK), Ali Murtaza, Ali Raza (Bwp), Bilal Tayyab, Sikandar Shoaib (Gujrwla).