Veterans to take part in World Cup side show

PHF’s Akhtar Rasool, Rana Mujahid part of the squads.

KARACHI: Two Pakistan outfits will represent the country at the Second FIH Masters World Cup Hockey Tournament to be played in Rotterdam, the Netherlands later this summer.      

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) announced yesterday that Pakistan Veterans and Pakistan Veterans Hockey Club will take part in the tournament from June 5 to June 13.

The tournament is a side event of the World Cup that will be held in The Hague from May 31 to June 15. Four-time champions Pakistan will not be a part of the competition for the first time after failing to qualify for the prestigious event.

The training camp of Pakistan Veterans Hockey Team will start on Friday at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore and the team includes current PHF President Akhtar Rasool and Secretary Rana Mujahid.

The camp for Pakistan Veterans Hockey Club is underway at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium in Karachi.

‘Participants arranging their own funds’

A member of one of the teams claimed that all participants were arranging their own funds to meet all expenses.

When asked how the tour will be financed when the PHF does not have to arrange a training camp even for the national players, a veteran player said, “Every single member of the two teams are arranging their own airfare.

 “They will also make arrangements for their accommodation on their own and the PHF will not pay a single penny.”

Probables for veteran teams 

Akhtar Rasool Chaudhary, Qasim Zia, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Tauqeer Ahmed Dar, Rana Mujahid Ali, Asif Bajwa, Shahid Ali Khan, Saleem Sherwani, Shahbaz Ahmed Senior, Anjum Saeed, Khalid Bashir, Tahir Zaman, Danish Kaleem, Shafqat Malik, Khawaja Junaid, Mohammad Khalid, Rahim Khan, Irfan Junior, Shahbaz Junior, Mohammad Nadeem (ND), Ahmed Alam, Mohammad Akhlaq, Tariq Sheikh, Asif Ahmed Khan, Irfan Senior, Syed Abuzar Umrao, Mohammad Ali, Jan Mohammad, Mohammad Naeem, Ajmal Lodhi,  Khawar Javaid, Rana Atif, Waheed Baig, Mujahid Afzal, Sohail Ashraf

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2014.

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