Zeeshan Ashraf eying Champions Trophy gold
Pakistan the former world hockey champions is optimistic to revive the past glory of the sport by winning a gold medal in the upcoming mega event of the Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to be held next year in New Delhi, the capital of India.
The Green shirts clinched a historic triumph in the recently concluded 16th Asian Games, held in Guangzhou, city of China. Pakistan’s hockey team is ready to display an impressive game in the Champions Trophy, where world’s best eight squads will fight for the title.
Pakistan, the three-time gold medallist and having six silver medals in the Champions Trophy could not feature in the last three versions and earned a place in the upcoming edition with changes in the rules of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The federation has decided to increase the numbers of the squads from six to eight, granting South Korea and Pakistan a wild card entry to the event.
Pakistan, which is standing at number eighth in the world ranking, has not won any edition of Champions Trophy since 1994. The Green shirts are featured with England, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia, Spain and the host India.
The captain of the Pakistan hockey team, Zeeshan Ashraf is quite optimistic about the upcoming mega event saying that the Green shirts could beat any squad in the world.
Zeeshan Ashraf said that Pakistan hockey can be at par with the top teams in the world. He believes that the Asian Games victory has given them a huge boost. The Pak team morale is up and the boys are really hungry for more success and he is confident that they can beat any team.
The seasoned defender and skipper further said that the things definitely would not be the same as happened in 2007, when Pakistan lastly contended the tournament and earned a disappointing sixth position.
Zeeshan further stated, “We’ve been a bit unlucky in the past but if you look at our results you’ll see that we have played really close matches against top teams like Australia and the Netherlands. We can be at the podium in the Champions Trophy.”
The 2011 edition of Champions Trophy 2011 will be held in New Delhi, India, where Pakistan already had lost two important games earlier this year in the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games. Pakistan failed to win matches against arch-rival India in the both tournaments and ousted in the way to the gold medals.
Zeeshan was of the view that the preparations of the Green shirts for the Champions Trophy will play vital role in the results of the tournament, adding that they would have to continue the matches against strong teams for maintaining their fitness level.
Pakistan’s hockey team, which has no major assignment up till May 2011, is mulling to start Asian-based Champions Trophy to up the level of the sport in Asia. Pakistan is scheduled to participate next year in May in its first task in Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup in Malaysia.
At the same time, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is attempting to organise a Dubai-based hockey league and test-match series at home turfs in order to hold the practice-level of the players.
Skipper Zeeshan Ashraf said that Pakistan would try to deliver best performance in the Champions Trophy, which would also boost their confidence level prior to the 2010 London Olympics. He further said that it would be great opportunity to judge their capabilities particularly the weak points, as they will play against best squads after some time.
The skipper of the Green shirts was quite hopeful that the year of 2011 would be a very lucky for Pakistan in the world of hockey. At the concluding lines, Zeeshan vowed that they would continue the winning spirit of the team in the future for the betterment of the sport in the country.
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