Hockey camp put on hold for a week

Training will resume on April 15 to give time to injured players to recover

KARACHI: The Pakistan hockey team’s training camp for a string of international assignments was put on hold due to an increasing list of injured players and will now resume on April 10 at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium in Islamabad.

According to head coach Shahnaz Sheikh, the management and coaches decided to break camp for a week after as many as 10 players became unfit to play.

“Ten out of 33 players were injured during training due to the poor condition of the Astroturf,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune. “The original plan was to give the players a week off to rest after April 15. However, that break is being given now rather than later as there is no use of a training camp without so many players.”



The coach said that the injured players include Arsalan Qadir, Muhammad Irfan, Mubashir Ali, Imran Butt, Umair Rana, Abu Bakar, Sharjeel, Nawaz, Kashif Ali and Ammad Shakeel Butt.

The team has been training since March 16 for a one-month camp, after which trials for the upcoming Four-Nation tournament in Australia were to take place on April 15.

“Now the trials will be held two days before schedule on April 12, while the camp will remain in progress till team’s the departure to Australia on April 28,” said Sheikh.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Hockey Federation has shifted the camp to Johar Town Hockey Stadium in Lahore to avoid further injuries.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd,  2015.

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