Pakistan Junior Hockey Team Coach unhappy with team’s performance in the Sultan of Johor Cup
The junior Pakistan hockey team failed to display a fantastic show in the recently concluded Sultan of Johor Cup, finishing the tournament with a disappointing fifth position.
This below-par performance made officials of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), particularly the team’s Coach, Rana Mujahid, unhappy and discontented.
It is vital to mention here that the junior Green-shirts won only two games out of six matches played in the six-nation tournament, held at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium, in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, from November 5 to 12, 2011.
Pakistan lost to New Zealand, South Korea, India and Malaysia in the first four games. However, it bounced back, claiming victories over Australia and New Zealand in the last two games.
Mujahid, while speaking to the media, said that the inclusion of raw-hand players was the main reason behind their disappointing performances in the event.
He explained, “Three of the players were playing their first match of international hockey and another four were having three to four international match experiences and in such circumstances the performance of the team was disappointing”.
In an unparalleled and odd move, he took full responsibility of the team’s poor presentation in the invitational tournament. He said that he took bold decisions for inducting fresh blood in the team, giving them a chance to make appearances in the international
hockey.
Reminiscing about the good performances of the team, he informed that he was in command when this junior squad rendered outstanding performances against Egypt, winning the tournament with a heavy margin.
In his view, the experiment to test the fresh youngsters failed to deliver results in the Malaysia-based event.
Furthermore, six players of the junior squad were promoted to the national side for the Australian tour, that disturbed the equilibrium of the team, he continued.
He clarified that the better option was to make new inclusions to fill up the vacant places and he did so. He provided the youngsters a chance to showcase their endurance in competitive hockey.
Bilal Khan, Hafiz Umer and Kareem Khan made their international debut while Bilal Qadir, Wasim Abbas, Asad Bashir and Zohaib Ashraf had slight experience of the international sport.
In his view, the players failed to develop coordination amongst themselves. Resultantly, they lost the games to low-profile teams.
The coach remarked that the assistant coaches, Ahmad Alam, Ajum Saeed and Danish Kaleem also failed to boost the squad for victories.
Mujahid, however, expressed satisfaction over their preparations for the junior World Cup qualifiers, set to be played in Malaysia, in May 2012.
He maintained that they will organise domestic events in the near future, including the National Junior Championship and the Junior Super League.
To further improve the performance of the junior team, the federation is also mulling to organise international fixtures, prior to the qualifying tournament.
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