LAHORE: After neglecting to fit the bill for the 2023 World Cup, Pakistan’s senior hockey crew on Tuesday began arrangements for their next task, the Commonwealth Games, being held in Birmingham from July 28 to Aug 8.
The players went to the primary day of the instructional course here at the National Hockey Stadium No.2 ground.
The camp began with many changes in the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) directly following Pakistan’s inability to fit the bill for the 2023 World Cup after they completed an unfortunate fifth in the current year’s Asia Cup held at the GBK Sports Complex in Jakarta in May-June. The mainland occasion included groups from eight nations.
Boss selector Manzoor Junior, in the wake of being given the new job of public junior group’s supervisor by the PHF in disputable conditions, left the alliance in fight while the previous camp commandant/chief Khawaja Junaid ventured down after the Asia Cup.
Instead of Manzoor, Olympian Kaleemullah, one of the choice panel individuals, was raised to the place of boss selector while collaborator mentor Ajmal Lodhi was given the assignment of group chief.
Pakistan’s record in the Commonwealth Games hockey occasion isn’t amazing.
After hockey was remembered for the games in 1998, Pakistan had the option to win bronze decoration in 2002 at Manchester – – trailed by silver in the 2006 release organized at Melbourne.
During the current year’s version highlighting groups from 10 hockey-playing countries, Pakistan are set in pool ‘A’ close by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Scotland. Pool ‘B’ contains India, England, Canada, Wales and Ghana.
AIKMAN JOINS CAMP
In the interim, Pakistan’s Dutch hockey mentor Siegfried Aikman has enlisted in the public instructional course in the wake of missing the Abbottabad molding camp which finished before Eid-ul-Azha.
Aikman, who missed the camp in Abbottabad because of visa-related issues, has come to the country with a functioning visa.
However Pakistan have shown some improvement under Aikman, they are yet to come out on top for a championship.
The Asia Cup was Aikman’s most memorable task however he had joined the group in December 2021, only a couple of days before the Pakistan crew left for Bangladesh to partake in the Asian Champions Trophy.
Recently, under his training Pakistan visited three European nations — Holland, Belgium and Spain. The green-shirts drew the two-test series 1-1 against both Holland and Spain while lost the oddball test against title holders Belgium.
Presently a major test anticipates Aikman and his group in Birmingham where a solid looking Australia, who have brilliantly kept up with their top situation in every one of the six releases of the Commonwealth Games, will again be a significant obstacle for every one of the taking part groups like England, New Zealand, India and Pakistan.
