Shahbaz asks Greenshirts to show unity in the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup
Shahbaz Senior, who is considered as Maradona of Hockey, urged the Pakistan hockey team players to contest in the upcoming Azlan Shah Hockey Cup like a single unit in order to acquire the top position in the tournament.
The seven-nation tournament is going to be held in Malaysian city of Ipoh from May 5 to 15. Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Great Britain, Indian and the host Malaysia will take part in the mega event. After clinching the Asian Games' gold
medal, Pakistan is flying high and confident about the upcoming contests.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the governing body of the sport, has short-listed some 22 players for second phase of the preparatory camp that started on Wednesday, April 22 at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium, Islamabad. The Greenshirts are getting
training under the supervision of Dutch Trainer, Michel van den Heuvel.
Shahbaz Sr, who was one of the best hockey players in his era, while speaking to the media said that the Dutch trainer might face issues in communication with players. In his views, a Pakistani coach could train the squad in a better way as compared to the
foreign trainer.
He stated, “A Pakistani coach who has played hockey for Pakistan like Tahir Zaman, Shahnaz Sheikh, and many more can coach the team in a lot better way which other than a coach from another country.”
The man with electric heels, Shahbaz Sr, during his decade long career was accredited Best Player of the Tournament in as many ten international contests. He is the only player in modern hockey, who won the Player of the Tournament Award consecutively two
times in 1990 and 1994 World Cups.
The former Olympian, while fixing his guns on the federation, said that Qasim Zia, the President of the PHF, and Asif Bajwa, the Secretary, were using the sport funds for their personal activities. He also claimed that he was also offered a decent amount
of money from the PHF, but he rejected the offer.
He maintained that he wanted to train the national team without any financial benefits, but the federation did not allow him in this regard. The un-cooperative attitude of the federation downed his energy and spirit; therefore he only shares his suggestions
and recommendations through media.
Shahbaz obtained the highest caps for Pakistan in International hockey. However, he is not satisfied with the performance of the hockey federation. He said that they wanted to host a two-nation hockey series with the neighbouring country, India, in order
to upgrade the level of sport in the region.
Owing to his outstanding performance, he was honoured with President’s Pride of Performance award back in 1992. He stressed that the federation would have to host a player hunt programme in order to find out the hidden talent in the country.
He stated, “We have got a lot of talent in the country but it needs to be dug out and for that the PHF should organise a talent hunt programme to look for the young talented players from all over the country and should train them from the grass-roots level.”
Pakistan is scheduled to play a four-nation tournament in Australia after the Malaysia-based Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup. They would also compete in the Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in the last quarter of 2011.
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