World Cup Qualifiers: Danish to coach junior hockey team

ISLAMABAD: Former full-back Danish Kaleem has been named as head coach of the national junior hockey team for the World Cup qualifiers to be held in Bangladesh.

Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Asif Bajwa announced the new national junior team management in a media talk on Thursday.

Besides Danish, the team coaching staff includes former national team captain Mohammad Imran, forward Muddassar Ali Khan and Rana Zaheer Babar.

“These all coaches are well-versed one and have required experience of coaching top national and international players. Secondly, they are current active and have been training their domestic teams for years now,” Bajwa, who named the coaching team after getting approval from the PHF President Brig(r) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, said.

Pakistan juniors’ first assignment will be the Asian Cup to be held in Bang­ladesh in June this year. The event also happens to be the qualifying round for the World Cup to be held later in the year.

The PHF also inducted fitness trainer in Abid Hameed. “Modern hockey is all about fitness and stamina. Our special stress will be on improving players’ fitness and making them at par with international standard,” Bajwa said.

To a question about senior team’s future commitments, Bajwa said Pakistan’s participation in the Azlan Shah Cup would set the preparations rolling.

“I am very much positive on the future of Pakistan hockey. Though we have lost opportunity to play the Olympics, I believe that with Azlan Shah Cup we would start our upward journey and by the year end we would be in a position to built on our standard and would go on to improve our ranking,” he said.

PHF secretary said that junior and senior teams’ activities at domestic level will be further given boost. “In all probabilities we are going to hold first ever hockey league in the country this year.”

Selection committee chairman Manzoor Junior who was also present on the occasion said that camp probables for junior string were announced after careful and thorough search.

“The selected players are better and look more talented than the previous lot. Hopefully they would produce better results.”