Pakistan remains upbeat for the FIH Champions Trophy
Pakistan is going to contest the FIH Champions Trophy, the most competitive hockey tournament of the 2011 calendar, and it is quite confident about displaying better performances against the world’s best teams.
The tournament will be played from December 3 to 11, in Auckland, New Zealand. Pakistan’s team believes that it has chances to finish the tournament with a position among the top four squads.
In all, the Auckland-based tournament is featuring teams from South Korea, Pakistan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Great Britain and Australia.
Pakistan’s hockey team had a series of training trips in 2011, in preparations for the FIH Champions Trophy, the last major tournament ahead of the Olympic Games.
A few youngsters were also promoted to the national team in place of senior players. This tournament will provide the youngsters a great chance to prove their mettle for international assignments.
Manager of the Pakistan Hockey Team, Khawaja Junaid, while speaking to the media said that the tournament will help the federation in evaluating the strength of its players prior to the London Games.
He stated, “We have a huge task ahead of us. This is the toughest test this year because almost everyone here is ranked higher than us”.
He further stated that the Green-shirts were ready to open the campaign on a positive note.
“We have been preparing for months for this major tournament. The team is in good shape with a combination of junior and senior players. We have done our homework and are confident about our chances”, he explained.
The manager maintained that the Green-shirts made improvements in their opening and finishing and hopefully it will help them in achieving their aims.
Muhammad Hanif Khan, the Chief Selector, anticipated that Mohammad Imran and Sohail Abbas will deliver fantastic performances in the tournament.
In his view, penalty corner execution will play a vital role in deciding the games. They have high hopes from Imran and Abbas in the short corner department, he added.
Pakistan will have to uphold its stamina throughout the seventy minutes of play if it wants to earn good results.
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