Watch out for Shoail in the penalty corners

10/04/1999

HE rarely hits the ball.
Not that he can't, only that his push travels faster than any player's
hit at the Azlan Shah Cup, so why bother.
Meet 22-year-old Pakistan sensation Shoail Abbas who is single-handedly
erasing the almost-there boys tag his team have been carrying around for
the last five years.
It might not be doing justice to his teammates, who are specialists in
their departments, but without Shoail, Pakistan would never have made
today's final against South Korea.
He scored 11 of the 26 goals Pakistan scored to make the final, an
average of two for each of the five matches he has played in.
But the penalty corner specialist, acclaimed to be the best in the world
right now, almost did not make it to the national squad. That's because
coaches at the junior level could not fit him into their game plan.
"I was dropped from the junior squad because they did not need a
defender but coach Shahnaz Sheikh liked the way I handled penalty corners
so he took me in," said the defender with huge hands.
Although Pakistan have possessed world class penalty corner hitters like
Khalid Bashir among their ranks, they have never had a pusher before.
Shoail aims to be the first and already he has made a name for himself.
Although he was gifted with booming pushes, nobody noticed him until he
made the senior squad and started practicing three hours a day, just
pushing and flicking.
"My idol is Bram Lomans from Holland. He inspired me with his big
pushes."
But there is a difference between the two. While Lomans only makes an
appearance to take penalty corners, Shoail is a first-rate defender too.
But the International Hockey Federation's change of rule on rolling
substitution during penalty corners cut short Lomans' career.
One has to see to believe what Shoail can do with the ball when
presented with a dead ball. He has perfected the art of shielding the ball
from onrushing defenders with his body and then unleashing a strong scoop
which leaves the goalkeeper standing rooted.
Against Malaysia, where he scored from two penalty corners, the ball
sounded the board even before the defenders could move.
(END)