Men's National Hockey Championship to start January 28 at Faisalabad – Hockey News
The 58th National Hockey Championship for Men is scheduled to starts January 28 at the Faisalabad Hockey Stadium, Pakistan. The Championship shall be hosted here from January 28 to February 13, 2011 for a period of 17 days.
Ten teams are to take part in this event namely, Pakistan Television (PTV), Sui Southern Gas Company, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), National Bank, Army, Habib Bank, Navy, Port Qasim, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and Steel Mills.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has appointed Khalid Bashir as Tournament Director, Rana Mujahid Ali as Organising Secretary and Malik Muhammad Shafqat and Muhammad Farooq as Assistant Tournament Directors. Rashid Mehmood Butt shall be the Umpires Manager
and assisted by Rana Khalid Iqbal.
PHF is under the impression that this tournament will provide the means to discover new talent in the country and quite possibly select some players for the opportunity to train with the national squad for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. Pakistan’s Dutch
coach Michel Heuvel will also be present to oversee and observe the young talent pool developed from this exciting tournament.
As the coach will be taking part and watching for any top quality player that might be given the opportunity to join the national squad and train for the Olympics, some players will be selected for the various junior and senior teams.
The tournament will provide the young players the platform to show off their hockey skills in front of top PHF officials. After a successful Asian Games campaign, the Pakistan hockey team is looking to prepare for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. This
tournament will provide the ideal opportunity for the younger players to make their mark and find a way into the squad.
The PHF is hoping for a good performance by the team during the Olympics. The team has suffered from performance issues over the past few years and it looks like the inclusion of Heuvel as coach has been a positive step towards restructuring the team and
hockey at all the different levels.
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