Khwaja Junaid feels Pakistan’s recent Asian Champions performance will put pressure on seniors
Khwaja Junaid, the manager of the national hockey team, stated that the Greenshirts’ good show in the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament will act as pressure on the senior players provided that they still return to the national squad by proving their
form and fitness as the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has no issue with the selection of them.
“Good performance from the younger players in the recent Asian Champions Trophy has created more competition and seniors will have to prove their form and fitness to make a comeback into the team,” Khwaja Junaid told in an interview about the national team’s
brilliant performance in the recently held event in Ordos, China.
As earlier, former Olympian Hanif Khan-headed selection committee has decided to rest some of the senior players from the Asian Champions Trophy including goalkeeper Salman Akbar, striker Rehan Butt and the penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas. This was
done to let the veteran trio get into shape to feature in the major events like the FIH Men’s Champions Trophy to be played in New Zealand and the Olympic Games to be held in London, England next year.
Khwaja Junaid further added to his comments by stating that he will only give his viewpoint and feedback to the selection committee and the PHF regarding the selection matter of the senior players for the future events but final decision would be theirs.
“But one thing is clear that now the seniors will have to fight for their places in the team because the youngsters have shown their potential in the event. It now creates more competition among the players for the London Olympics squad,” Junaid, the former
Olympian, stated about the increased competition between the seniors and the youngsters.
Meanwhile, Michael van den Heuvel, the Dutch coach of Pakistan national hockey team, looked quite hopeful to develop a pool of 25 to 30 players before the prestigious events of sports, the 2012 London Olympic Games. The coach also stated that the youngsters’
next assignment will be a 3-nation tournament in Australia in October where they will have another chance to show their talent.
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