‘Australia a testing ground for 2016 qualifiers’

Chief selector Islahuddin says current hockey squad may undergo changes

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey chief selector Islahuddin Siddiqui is viewing the ongoing Four-Nation International Challenge in Hobart as a prime opportunity to judge the players’ performance and select the best team for the 2016 Rio Olympics’ qualification round.

The World Hockey League in June will serve as the qualifiers for next year’s mega event in Brazil.

“This tournament is very helpful in terms of working out the best combination for the Olympic qualifiers, which will start from June 22,” said Islahuddin while talking to The Express Tribune. “You always want to challenge yourself against the best in the world and Australia certainly provides that opportunity.”

He also said that the team is missing two experienced players Muhammad Rizwan Sr and Rashid Mehmood, who are still playing in their respective German leagues.

“Although we picked the best available side for this tour, we’ll once again experiment with a few other players after our series in Korea for the World Hockey League,” he added.

Meanwhile, the chief selector said that he is in continuous contact with head coach Shahnaz Sheikh about the performance of the team in the last two matches.

“Sheikh told me that the team faced some difficulties in the beginning, but are now used to the Australian conditions and a better performance will be seen in the next four matches,” said Islahuddin.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th,  2015.

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