Pakistan Hockey Federation’s New Selection Committee wants open trials – Hockey News
The new selection committee that had been formerly announced on Monday, February 28 by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has decided to hold open trials before the upcoming event, the Azlan Shah Cup that is to be commenced in May in Ipoh, Malaysia.
The chief selector of this committee is Former Olympian Abdul Hanif Khan followed by members Khalid Bashir (Olympian) and Mohammad Arshad Chaudhary.
Khan desires that the PHF should hold open trials before the Azlan Shah Cup due to the reason that the new committee was not present at the National Hockey Championship 2011 that was held last month. Hanif Khan, being retained by PHF as Chairman of the committee
until the 2012 Olympics, has plans to primarily select the U19 team and then to work upon choosing out the squad for the Azlan Shah, which is to take place in Malaysia.
Khan expressed the reason for an open trial by saying, “I’m looking forward to the trials because nobody observed the players during the National Hockey Championship. We don’t know how the players are performing on the field. I’ve recommended to the federation
that they should hold trials in April. This will not only give departmental players a chance to prove themselves but it’ll also give us a chance to assess how our seniors are maintaining their fitness since the Asian Games gold last November.”
Khan emphasised upon the fact that understanding among the coach, captain and the selectors, above all, is of vital importance not just during the undergoing process of selection but later too.
The chief selector rebutted the rumours regarding the incongruity between the coach and the selection committee and delivered the fact that selectors always consider the coach’s advices before finalising the team.
Khan put emphasis on having the squad be physically fit. According to him, all the members, especially the seniors, must be healthy and fit for the Azlan Shah Cup as well as for any other international commitments approaching later this year.
Hanif clearly stated, “I’ve said it time and again that I don’t choose players on the basis of their seniority. All I’m looking for are players who can produce results for Pakistan. I’m not sure whether the PHF will agree on the open-trial suggestion or
not, but it will break the mind-set of the players who assume their place in squad is guaranteed.”
It will be interesting to see what structure the open trials will have and what impact they will have on the Pakistan hockey team.
Tags: