PHF finalises national championship matters

KARACHI: The PHF has finalised the preparation for National Hockey Championship scheduled to be held in Sukkur from December 15-30.

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah will be the chief guest at the concluding ceremony, ‘The News’ learnt on Sunday.

It is first time that the national championship is being organised in Sukkur as PHF wants to promote the national game at the grassroots level in remote areas.

The Sindh government has laid synthetic turfs in various cities of the province.

Chief minister Murad also announced last month a handsome amount in grant for PHF for the promotion of hockey at annual basis.

The PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed said that Shafiq Bhatti will be the Tournament Director (TD), and Sindh Hockey Association’s (SHA) Ramzan Jamali will be the chairman of the organising committee.

He said that PHF was also organising a three-day workshop for coaches, umpires and technical officials. Experienced hockey officials will deliver lectures.

The panel of umpires for the championship includes those who have officiated at international and domestic levels. This will give emerging umpires an opportunity to gain experience.

The director development and domestic of PHF Naveed Alam said that 20-22 teams are expected to participate in the event. Out of them 16 will be representing departments. The other teams will represent the provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Islamabad, and FATA.

Naveed said that the championship was being organised at the newly-laid turf in Sukkur. The stadium has floodlights facilities.

He said that schools administrations would be urged to send their students to see the matches.

The chairman national selection committee Hasan Sardar has said that those senior players and others who failed to make a place in the national hockey team in the recent past should show their skills and fitness during the national championship as they would be under consideration for international assignments. He said that the selectors would be present during the championship.