Pakistan Hockey Team Skipper Imran declares India favourite over Greenshirts
Pakistan Hockey Team, the winner of the Asian Games is going to the contest the first version of the Asian Champions Trophy scheduled to be held from September 3 to 11. However they are not quite confident about the results.
Mohammad Imran, the skipper of the Pakistani squad believes that India – the arch-rival squad has had advantage over the Greenshirts in the forthcoming tournament. However, the skipper was of the opinion that the preparations for the London Games were more
vital than edging out the neighbouring India.
Pakistani captain while speaking to the media said that the Indian team is comprised of experienced players while the Greenshirts would contest the event with young and inexperienced players. In his views, the tourney would help them to prepare balanced
line-up for next year Olympics.
The Greenshirts will contest the tournament without the services of world’s highest goal scorer Sohail Abbas, Salman Akbar and Rehan Butt. He stated, “We don't have Sohail Abbas in the team. On the other hand, Indian drag flicker Sandeep Singh is making
a comeback who always does well against us. Pakistan has more junior players in the team and naturally there will be added pressure on them to perform against India. India may enjoy upper hand in this particular tournament.”
The skipper was of the opinion that it would be a great chance to evaluate the worth of backup line in the absence of senior names. In his views, this chance will help them in the upcoming major assignments including the Champions Trophy and London Gala.
The top Asian teams including India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, South Korean and the host China are going to fight for the first version of the Asian Champions Trophy. This tournament will have an assist not only for the Greenshirts but for every team to
assess their worth ahead of the mega tasks.
Apart from declaring India, Imran anticipated that the Greenshirts could repeat the history of Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament where they cruised past India after consecutive four losses.
He informed that they were mentally equipped to defeat the arch-rival India, as Coach Michal Van Den Heuvel improved their mental stamina through the arrangements of special sessions with the psychologist.
To a query, the captain of the Greenshirts is quite hopeful for gold-medal victory in the next year London Olympics. He maintained that they are working to play more and more games with top squads in order to continue the rhythm of players for the upcoming
mega tournament.
The Pakistan hockey team will be looking to put in a good performance at the tournament and get some much needed experience to the younger players in the squad.
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