PHF names 38 players for second phase of training camp

KARACHI: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Saturday announced the names of 38 players shortlisted for the second phase of national hockey team’s training camp in Lahore.

A PHF official told reporters on Saturday that the trials for selection in the national hockey team for the FIH Pro League will also be held later this week.

Pakistan hockey team’s newly-appointed manager cum head coach Saeed Khan, when contacted by ‘The News’, said that the majority of the players selected are young.

“The players are young and we are working on them keeping in mind our upcoming assignments,” he said.

Saeed said that he will not follow the training methods of former head coach Netherlands’ Roelant Oltmans.

“Oltmans had his own way of coaching. We are working on attacking, aggresive style of play which was the hallmark of Pakistan hockey,” Saeed said.

“Pakistan hockey has a long way to go. We need to motivate players and train them to get used to aggressive style of play. If you play defensively, then your morale goes down and you come under pressure after conceding a goal,” he added.

Saeed said that most of the players in the training camp are from the junior hockey team.

“We are training them but they will take some time to settle down,” he said. “As far as the players’ physical fitness is concerned, it will improve gradually. We are looking to appoint a trainer for them in the coming months.”

Greenshirts will play their opening match of the FIH Pro League against Argentina on February 2.

Meanwhile, the four goalkeepers who were training under the supervision of Olympian Shahid Ali Khan in Karachi joined the national team in Lahore on Saturday.

Shortlisted players: Muneebur Rehman, Waleed Akhtar, Aleem Bilal, Mubashar Ali, Waqar, Rizwan Ali, Amjad Ali, Abu Bakar Mehmood, Moin Shakeel, Azfar Yaqoob, Faisal Qadir, Junaid Kamal, Atif Mushtaq, Asfand Yar, Ali Shan, Atiq Arshad, Saran Bin Qamar,Rana Waheed,Rana Sohail Riaz, Ghazanfar Ali, Ali Aziz, Suhail Anjum, Sami Ullah, Sardar Chandio Khan, Arsalan Qadir, Shan Irshad, Hammadudin Anjum, Salman Razzaq, Junaid Manzoor, Adeel Latif, Abdul Nafeh, Rehan Butt, Ajmal Butt, Zain, Taimoor Malik, Awais ur Rehman, Akmal Hussain and Amjad Ali.