Conspicuous by absence: Chief selector missing at trials for Pakistan

Players make case for inclusion in South Asian Games team with only two of five selectors present

KARACHI: The final trials for the selection of Pakistan Whites for South Asian Games were held in the absence of chief selector Rasheed Junior and two members of the selection committee, Saeed Khan and Qasim Khan, at the Hockey Club of Pakistan in Karachi on Tuesday.

The team for the Asian Games was to be announced after the trials on Tuesday, but as three selectors were not able to reach the trials, the team will now be announced on Wednesday.

Only two of the five selectors — Farhat Khan and Waseem Feroz — were present at the trials, along with Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Olympian Shahbaz Ahmed Senior.



“Rasheed was not able to reach Karachi and observe trials as his flight was delayed. The team will therefore now be announced on Wednesday,” Shahbaz told The Express Tribune.

Feroz was quick to play down the absence of the chief selector. “Rasheed has seen these players during the National Hockey Championship earlier this month and knows about their performances,” he said. “We have considered some players in the presence of the PHF secretary. The players who performed have been named in the list and are the final 16.”



Pakistan Whites head coach Muhammad Saqlain was happy with the fitness of the players though. “We have focused on physical fitness and positioning of the players, including on short corners, penalty corners and penalty strokes,” he said. “They have improved during the camp.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2016.

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