Former Olympian Shehnaz Sheikh praises Greenshirts on victory over Asian Champions South Korea
Shehnaz Sheikh, the former Olympian and the legend of Pakistan hockey, praised the national hockey team on their forceful and categorical 3-2 victory over the reigning Asian Champions and the World number six side, South Korea, in their fourth match of the
Asian Champions Trophy played in Ordos, China on Wednesday, September 7.
“Pakistan have almost always struggled whenever they played back-to-back matches in the past. But after having conceded a defeat at the hands of minnows Japan, Pakistan came back strongly against South Korea on the very next day, which I believe is a good
and positive sign,” Sheikh, the legendary Olympian, shared his views after the Greenshirts’ victory over the Asian power house.
The former Olympian also stated that the biggest problem with the Greenshirts is inconsistency and unpredictability in their performance as the team performs well in one match and went down in the other. In this tournament the national team lost to Japan, a
relatively a weaker side as compared to South Korea and defeated the stronger team. However, he looks quite hopeful for a better show by the national team in the rest of the tournament.
“Japan claimed second place recently in a European tournament, where Germany and Holland had also participated. So Japan is no more an ordinary team and they would soon make their presence felt in the international arena,” Sheikh stated about the recent
performance of the Japanese national side.
Meanwhile, the former Olympian also commented that an eight or ten-day training camp is not enough for such a major and important event instead the players should at least have a training period of six to eight weeks before such an important event. He felt
it is necessary to build up a strong and winning combination required in such kind of tournament where the players have to fight against tough oppositions like South Korea and India. He also emphasised that a short-period training camp can be a better option
for a series of two or three matches but to prepare a strong team for an event like the Asian Champions Trophy a long training camp can produce the required results.
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