ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Saturday named a 16-member national squad for participation in the International Festival of Hockey scheduled to be held in Melbourne, Australia from November 8 to 12. “Pakistan, hosts Australia, New Zealand and Japan will be competing in the men’s event,” said a PHF spokesman. Muhammad Irfan Senior will led the team while Umar Bhutta will be his deputy.
The other members of the team are Amjad Ali, Abubakr Mahmood, Atif Mushtaq, Hassan Anwar, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Tasawwar Abbas, Rizwan Jr, Arslan Qadir, Shajeeh Ahmed, Shan Irshad, Atiq Arshad, Ajaz Ahmed,Bilal Qadir and Khizer Akhtar. The officials are Farhat Khan (manager/head coach), Malik Shafqat (coach), Muhmmad Sarwar (coach), Dr Atif Bashir (team doctor) and Abuzar Umrao (video analyst). The team includes five players who have won selection for the national side: Khizer Akhtar (Tando Jam, district Hyderabad), Shajeeh Ahmed (Sargodha), Hassan Anwar (Faisalabad), Bilal Qadir (Pir Mahal, district Toba Tek Singh) and Shan Irshad (Sheikhupura).
Published in Daily Times, November 5th 2017.