Pakistan not invincible in Orods

MALAYSIA will start their inaugural Asian Champions Trophy challenge in Ordos, inner Mongolia, against Pakistan and nothing but a win will do to justify their No 2 ranking in Asia.
Pakistan will also be fielding an average side, as the dropped their penalty corner flicker Sohai Abbas and prolific striker Rehan Butt as well as Salman Akbar.
“It will be a tough match as we will be starting against the Asian Games champions but it does not matter as we are here to try out some new players, as well as strengthen our team for the Champions Challenge as well as the Olympic Qual ifier,” said chief coach Tai Beng Hai.
South Korea, India, Japan and China are the other op ponents in this long overdue tournament organised by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) in tandem with the Cham pions Trophy.
The women’s tournament was resting in the pipeline for the past five years, and finally started off with the women’s tournament hosted by South Korea which saw four teams compete.
The men’s version was supposed to be hosted by India, but problems with two governing bodies there derailed the noble idea.
However, even though the tournament does not carry any International Hockey Federation ranking points, Orods will nevertheless see a groundbreaking tournament to strength en Asian sides.
“There are two pitches here and we trained at the second pitch as the main pitch has been closed for the opening ceremony today (yesterday).
“The players found the second pitch to be generally bumpy and slippers as it it newly laid.
“And also, the temperature is around 13-21 Celsius and much colder at night because of the wind.”
But the coach is not worried about the weather, and pitch, as it will trouble all the other teams too.
“My main responsibility here is to see that the players play to the system that we have been training, and the young players adapt fast to the tournament,” said Beng Hai.
TODAY: Korea v Japan, India v China, Malaysia v Pakistan