Pakistan's sports board-run committee has reportedly sacked the entire men's coaching staff of the senior hockey team after their horrid run in the recently concluded Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Pakistan were not good enough to even make it to the semifinals of the event and that has potentially led to the sacking.
Shahnaz Sheikh has been reappointed as the head coach of the side. He comes with plenty of experience, having already served in the position earlier. Shahnaz was supposed to travel to Chennai for the Champions Trophy but the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) failed to arrange his visa on time. In an entirely revamped coaching structure that has come to light, Shahnaz will be supported by the trio of Shakeel Abbasi, Amjad Ali and Dilawar Hussain.
The Muhammad Umar Bhutta-led side was far from impressive at the Asian Champions Trophy. Their campaign got off to the worst possible start as they lost to Malaysia 3-1 in their opening fixture. A draw 1-1 against the Republic of Korea was gratifying but another draw 3-3 against Japan followed by a narrow triumph 2-1 over the People's Republic of China meant that the three-time champions had to beat India comprehensively in their final group stage fixture.
But what followed was nothing but misery as they lost to their arch-rivals 4-0 and it ended their hopes of making it to the semifinals of the event. However, there is hardly anytime left for the Asian side to reflect on their outing at the Champions Trophy as the Asian Games in Hangzhou are on the horizon and the PHF has announced 36 probables for the same.
A training camp has been scheduled in Islamabad starting Tuesday, August 22 and all the probables who have been named will be attending the same at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium.
Probables:
Goalkeepers: Akmal Hussain, Abdullah Ishtiyaq Khan, Waqar, Ali Raza, Abdullah Sheikh.
Defenders: Mohammad Abdullah, Arbaz Ahmad, Mohammad Sufyan Khan, Aqeel Ahmed, Mohammad Bilal Aslam.
Midfielders: Usama Bashir, Mohammad Murtaza Yaqoob, Arbaz Ayaz, Ahtisham Aslam, Mohammad Baqar, Mohammad Nadeem Khan, Mohammad Imran, Syed Shehbaz Haider
Forwards: Mohammad Imad, Afraz, Roman, Arshad Liaquat, Abdul Qayyum, Abdul Rehman, Waqar Ali, Mohammad Arsalan, Mohammad Umar Bhat, Abdul Hannan Shahid, Mohammad Shahzaib Khan, Abdul Wahab, Zikriya Hayat, Bisharat Ali, Rana Waleed, Hamza Fayaz, Abdul Rehman
