Pakistan Hockey Federation keen to play against India in four-nation tournament – Hockey News
India recently came across a four-year ban from organising any international event that was imposed by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) due to the merger of the two controversial hockey bodies.
Despite the fact, Pakistan’s Hockey Federation (PHF) still shows their interest to send the team in the September Four-nation tournament that is to be hosted in India.
The PHF President, Qasim Zia, had a talk with media in Karachi when he said, “We want to play against India. We have our counsel-general in New Delhi working on the documents that are required.”
PHF had previously given confirmation regarding the team’s participation in the event but it still awaits a green signal from the government.
Zia asserted, “Pakistan will benefit from any opportunity that helps the team prepare for next year’s Olympics and we want to give our players maximum exposure.”
He believes that this participation will not harm OHF concerning the clash between FIH and India because Pakistan had talks with HI that is recognised by the Federal body.
According to the PHF, the Greenshirts will be leaving for India on September 19 soon after the conclusion of the Asian Champions Trophy that will take place from September 3-11 at Ordos, China. The tournament looks to be an exciting new fixture for hockey
fans.
According to a Hockey India (HI) official today, August 6, the opening match will be played by India against the host team on the inaugural day. Apart from the two, other teams to take part in the event are Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.
The HI release stated that the six teams taking part are the ones that took the top six spots in the 2010 Asian Games in China, with Greenshirts on the top of the list.
In addition to the Chinese event for Men, the Female teams will also be featuring in the second Asian Champions Trophy for Women that will consist of India, China, South Korea and Japan. It will be interesting to see if HI agrees to having
Pakistan play against India in a cross the border tournament.
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