World Cup preparations begin: Pakistan juniors off to Germany

Boys in green will participate in four-nation tournament

KARACHI: Pakistan’s 16-member junior hockey team has received their visas and will leave today for Germany to take part in a four-nation tournament, which will be played from July 21 to 24.

Besides Pakistan, the tournament also features hosts and reigning world champions Germany, third-ranked Netherlands and sixth-ranked Belgium.

Locking horns with such top-ranked sides will apparently boost the skills of Pakistan juniors, who finished in an abysmal ninth place at the 2013 World Cup. With the next World Cup set to take place later this year in India, it is hoped that the four-nation tournament will also provide some much needed practice to the Pakistani contingent.



Dilber Hussain will captain the team, while Olympian Tahir Zaman will double as the head coach and the manager. Zeeshan Ashraf will also accompany the team in a coaching capacity.

“We practiced at the training camp held after Ramazan. It was a brief camp so we focused on the weak areas that were pointed out during the five-a-side tournament in Ramazan,” Hussain told The Express Tribune.



“The team selected has a great bonding, and although we will be facing some top European sides, we will do our best to win matches. The players know that if they perform below the expectations then they can be dropped from the final squad for the big tournament in India.”

Zaman reiterated that the main purpose of the tour is to give players some exposure before the World Cup. “The players have been asked to give their all as the management wants all mistakes and weak areas identified before the World Cup,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2016.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.