LAHORE: Pakistan hockey captain Zeeshan Ashraf will undergo a fitness test along with Kashif Javed prior to the squad’s departure for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Ashraf injured his hamstring while playing against Belgium and was forced to miss half the tour as a result.
“The team’s training camp has now been completed and the players will assemble in Lahore on September 26,” said the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) General Secretary Asif Bajwa. “We have two players on stand-by and we’ll wait until for the fitness tests as Ashraf and Javed will only be part of the Commonwealth Games squad after clearing the tests on September 27.”
No security apprehension
Despite the growing concerns among various participants due to the state of the Games only days before the start of the tournament, the PHF has ruled out any security fears and confirmed its participation. The state of the athletes’ village is under scrutiny following photos shown by the BBC. This followed security concerns after a gun attack on a tourist bus outside a mosque in New Delhi on Sunday, which further added to security woes ahead of the Games.
Bajwa, however, ruled out any concerns of touring India in light of their worry-free tour during the World Cup.
“We’re not hesitant in touring India and even the government has given us the NOC. Our experience in touring India during the World Cup was very successful and we are going to take part in Commonwealth Games as per schedule.”
Change in management
The PHF named Olympian Khwaja Junaid as interim manager of the touring team for the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in place of Manzoor Junior who will not be able to accompany the team.
“Manzoor has not been released by his department and thus we’ve chosen Junaid as the team manager for the tours. If Manzoor gets clearance at a later point in time, then he will join the squad as the manager but for now we’ve opted to assign the role to Junaid.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2010.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ