Pakistan ready for battle

03/05/08

LAHORE: An 18-member Pakistan senior hockey team, led by deep defender Zeeshan Ashraf, will leave for Malaysia on May 5 to take part in the Azlan Shah Hockey tournament being played in Ipoh from May 8.
Olympics qualifiers Canada, Argentina, Belgium, New Zealand, India, hosts Malaysia and Pakistan are the participating teams of the event which ends on May 18.On completion of this seven-nation tournament, Pakistan will embark on their European odyssey, with matches in Germany, France and Belgium from May 19 for an extensive preparatory tour in connection with the Olympic Games at Beijing, China, in August next.On the final leg of the tour, Pakistan will take part in the 4-Nation Hockey Tournament to be held at Dublin, Ireland, from June 11-15.The squad: Goalkeepers — Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmed. Fullbacks — Zeeshan Ashraf (captain), Mohammad Imran (vice-captain), Mohammad Atiq, Kamran Ahmed. Halfbacks — Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Saqlain, Farid Ahmad, Mohammad Javaid. Forwards — Waqas Sharif, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Mohammad Zubair, Haider Abbas, Waqas Akbar, Shabbir Khan, Shafqat Rasool.The five officials accompanying the team are Khwaja Zakauddin (Chief Coach), Naveed Alam (Coach), Mohammad Faiz (Physiotherapist), Nadeem Lodhi (Video Analyst) and Dilawar Bhatti (Umpire).
The News International