Pakistan take on India in Champions Trophy opener

Skipper Rizwan confident of victory as hockey’s mega event takes place for final time

KARACHI: The 37th and last edition of the Hockey Champions Trophy will kick off in grand manner as Pakistan take on arch-rivals India on Saturday at the BH & BC Breda in Breda, Netherlands.

Led by the experienced Muhammad Rizwan, the team has been in Netherlands for the past three weeks in order to get used to the conditions and is confident of at least a podium finish as teams look to bid farewell to the prestigious tournament in style.

The team held their last phase of training camp in Netherlands, playing two practice matches and winning both of them. The final 18-member squad was announced on June 19 after the two-week training camp had ended.

"It is the final edition of the Champions Trophy and I am sure every team would want to make it memorable. Pakistan have the inaugural title of the competition to their name and we want the last edition to be ours too,” said Rizwan, while talking to The Express Tribune.



“It will be a challenging tournament with back-to-back matches and picking up those three points from every game will be the only thing on our minds in Breda,” he said. “The energy in the boys is at its peak and we are all optimistic about our chances of winning the tournament.”

Pakistan finished as runners-up in the last edition they participated in back in 2014, and have won three titles. However, all three of them came at home and the most recent one was back in 1994, with the other two being even further back in 1978 and 1980.

Pakistan made it into the final of the 2014 edition with a historic 4-3 win over India courtesy a last-minute goal by Arslan Qadir.

“I have very good memories of the last time we played in this tournament and would love to repeat my heroics from four years ago,” said Qadir. “Hopefully we can go one better this time around and win the tournament. We are fitter now than what we were four years ago so we can surprise our opponents once again.”



With hosts Netherlands, defending champions Australia and other traditional giants Argentina, India and Belgium also in the fray, Pakistan know they will have to be at their very best if they are to emerge from the tournament with any sort of credit.

“Our immediate goal is to do well in this tournament and there is no doubt that it will serve as a test for us to gauge where we stand as compared to the best teams in the world, especially with the World Cup coming soon,” added Rizwan. “We would love to prepare for the World Cup by doing well in this tournament.”

While the match between the two traditional heavyweights invariably garners added attention from fans from both sides of the Wagah border, skipper Rizwan insists the players will be treating it like any other game.

“We are looking forward to claiming three points against them and begin the campaign well,” he added. “Every match is crucial and we have to do everything we can to ensure we finish in the top two and qualify for the final.”