Oltmans to continue as consultant of Pak juniors

KARACHI: Pakistan junior hockey team’s training camp will be held in Lahore from next week. It is likely to start from Monday. Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) will announce the names of the players and team management in a couple of days.

German hockey coach Roelant Oltmans will continue as the consultant of Pakistan hockey team, The News learnt on Thursday. The national junior hockey team’s training camp will be held regarding the final preparation and training for participation in the Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup 2023, in Malaysia which will be held from December 5-16.

Pakistan Junior hockey team a few days back returned home from Malaysia, after participation in the 11th Sultan of Johor Cup, where they reached the semifinals and lost against Australia 2-1 and also tasted defeat against archrivals India in penalty shootout by 6-5 goals. They stood fourth in the event. Roelant Oltmans was the consultant during the event.

Sources in the PHF said that Pakistan team got wonderful experience of international matches when participating in the Sultan of Johor Hockey Cup in Malaysia and loopholes and weaknesses found in these matches would be addressed in the forthcoming training camp.

Sources further said that PHF is trying to arrange for Pakistan hockey team a few more international matches before the world cup, and in this regard has contacted the other participating teams.

Pool A features the defending champions Argentina, Chile, Malaysia, and Australia, who are back in the event after missing out on the 2021 edition due to issues related to the pandemic. Pool B pits together two medalists from the 2021 edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup, silver medalists Germany and bronze medalists France, along with the pair of African teams in Egypt and South Africa.

Pool C will see a mixture of playing styles on display with Canada and India, known for their counter-attacking hockey, taking on Korea, who rely on building off the back of a structurally solid defence and Spain, who are masters of the possession game.

Pool D features multiple powerhouses of hockey in Belgium, Netherlands, New Zealand and Pakistan. Outside of Pakistan, none of the teams in the pool have ever tasted success at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup, while Pakistan themselves haven’t finished at the top of the podium places since the inaugural edition of the event, back in 1979.