PHA team to feature in Surjit Hockey

LAHORE: Punjab Hockey Association (PHA) team will feature in the 36th Surjit Hockey Tournament, scheduled to be held from October 10-19 in Jalandhar city of Indian Punjab.

“Punjab Hockey Association (PHA) has received invitation from the organisers to send its team for the tournament and we have given it a go ahead signal a couple of days ago,” said Pakistan Hockey Federation official on Monday.

It was a peace initiative of the Surjit Hockey Society, the organizers of the event, which is to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak and the ongoing Kartarpur Corridor proceedings.

“We will send our team 21-member squad i.e. 18 players and three officials for the event. We’ve requested the Interior Ministry to grant us No Objection Certificate and once we get that we will move ahead with our plan,” Secretary Punjab Hockey Association, Asif Naz Khokhar said.

He said that participation of Punjab’s team in the tournament was not a new thing as the Association had been sending its outfit for in it in the past also.

“We’ve been sending our team for this event in the past also. In 2015, our team emerged victorious in it,” he added.

He said that a team from India’s Punjab had also been visiting Pakistan frequently and playing friendly matches with Punjab Hockey’s team there.

“We’ve very cordial relations with the management of Punjab Indian hockey. We keep on hosting each other’s players and entertain them in the best possible way.”