Junior Asia Cup 2021 postponed again

KARACHI:The AHF has postponed Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2021. It was scheduled to be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from July 1-10.

It had already been postponed twice. The reason behind the postponement is stated to be the corona pandemic.

Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Asif Bajwa said that the PHF had been informed about the postponement.

He said that it was a saddening news. "Our players had been preparing earnestly for this event. They will now have to wait further," he added.

Bajwa said that the training camp of Pakistan juniors at Abdul Sattar Edhi hockey stadium in Karachi has been closed and all participants sent home.

He said that PHF would review the situation and wait till the new dates of the event were announced to decide the future training plan.

The Bangladesh hockey federation had intense discussions with its government about the ongoing lockdowns and recently introduced flight and travel restrictions. It later discussed with AHF the uncertainty around the ability to hold the Junior Asia Cup in an orderly, sensible and fair manner.

AHF said: "Apart from the protection of players’, team staff and officials’ health and welfare being a priority, we also need to consider that the Junior Asia Cup is a top-level event, a Junior World Cup qualifier and a competition featuring athletes who are only one step from playing at the very highest level of our sport, so we must ensure appropriate conditions for the event and minimize the risk of qualified teams and athletes being unable to participate.

"Therefore, unfortunately, AHF has to communicate that we are forced to postpone the Men’s Junior Asia Cup, we will require some time to confirm new dates, but they will be confirmed as soon as possible," AHF added.