Pakistan National Men’s Hockey squad leaves for Malaysia: Hockey News
Pakistan’s national men’s squad left for Malaysia to play the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia from May 5-15.
The 18-member squad, led by Mohammad Imran, the team captain, was found with their Head Coach, Michel Van Den Heuvel, setting off from Islamabad to Kuala Lumpur via Karachi.
Before leaving, Imran commented that the team is optimistic about the event ahead. Since the 2010 Asian Games victory, the team is confident about their future performances.
Azlan Cup will be featuring seven of world’s top hockey teams including the World Champions, Australia. Pakistan team will play its first match on May 5, against New Zealand at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium in Ipoh.
Malaysia, which is ranked at number 15, has not yet made a single win from a total of 19 Azlan Shah editions. It is the lowest ranked team of all the other participating teams in the event.
The world rankings were last revised on August 9, 2010. It is worth noticing that the Great Britain has been picked up in the list instead of the World’s Number Four ranked team England.
The rest of the teams that will be appearing in the event are South Korea (ranked sixth), New Zealand (ranked seventh), the 2010 Asian Games winners Pakistan (ranked eighth) and India (ranked ninth).
Previously, the Malaysian Hockey Federation’s (MHF) Vice-President, Datuk Abdul Rahim Ariff said that all teams have accepted the Azlan Shah invitation and this confirmation means that everything is in order. He further said that the fixtures will
be announced as soon as the International Hockey Federation (FIH) gives its approval. It is expected that the teams bring in their best players because no other major event is to occur during the period.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) ratified the event and the match plans released by the MHF are given as below:
May 5: New Zealand Vs Pakistan, Korea Vs India and Great Britain Vs Malaysia
May 6: Korea Vs Pakistan, Great Britain Vs India and Australia Vs Malaysia
May 8: Australia Vs India, Great Britain Vs Pakistan and Korea Vs New Zealand
May 9: Australia Vs Pakistan, Great Britain Vs New Zealand and India Vs Malaysia
May 11: New Zealand Vs Malaysia, Australia Vs Korea and Pakistan Vs India
May 12: Australia Vs Great Britain, New Zealand Vs India and Korea Vs Malaysia
May 14: Great Britain Vs Korea, Pakistan Vs Malaysia and Australia Vs New Zealand
May 15: Fifth-Sixth, Third-Fourth and the Final
Malaysia’s past record has been very disappointing and yet again needs to make a place for the Olympics after undergoing the Qualifying tournaments. Malaysia had failed to qualify for the last two Olympics of 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing. They also
did not make it to the World Cup Finals of 2006 and 2010.
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