Daily Times

LAHORE: An 18-member hockey squad for the Junior World Cup, to be held from December 8 to 18 in Lucknow, India, has been selected. Ammad Shakeel Butt has been named as captain while Mohammad Dilber has been appointed his deputy. The national selection committee picked up the squad after holding one-day trials at the Johar Town Stadium with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president Khalid Sajjad Khokar giving approval to the squad selection. Head coach Tahir Zaman said Friday that the team was well-balanced and comprised almost the same players who had been in the team for the last one year. He claimed that players were upbeat about their participation in the mega event while holding out hope that Pakistan would win the title. “It is the best time for players to emerge as heroes of the nation by winning the title on the Indian soil,” he added. “Players were only focusing on their preparations,” maintained Tahir while setting aside any security fear in India. He said the players had been advised to play the role of country’s true ambassadors in India, adding that the selected team would continue to train in the camp until their departure for India in the first week of December.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Ali Raza, Mune eb-ur-Rehman.

Full-backs: Mohammad Atif Mushtaq, Hassan Anwar, Mubashar Ali.

Halves: Ammad Shakeel Butt (captain), Abu Bakar Mahmood, Faizan, Mohammad Junaid Kamal, Taze em-ul-Hassan.

Forwards: Shan Irshad, Mohammad Azfar Yaqoob, Mohammad Dilber (vice-captain), Mohammad Atiq, Mohammad Bila1Qadir, Mohsin Sabir, Rana Suhail Riaz, Samiullah.

Stand-byes:

Hafiz Mohammad Ali Umair (goalkeeper), Zahidullah (full-back), Mohammad Usman (half-back), Muhammad Adnan (half-back), Mohammad Rizwan (forward), Mohammad Naveed (forward), Fahadullah (forward) and Mohammad Umar Hamdi (forward).

Officials:

Khalid Mukhtar Farani (manager), Tahir Zaman (chief coach), Mohammad Irfan, Zeeshan Ashraf (assistant coaches), Ghazanfar Ali (nutritionist), Zahid Ali (analyst), Muhammad Adnan (physiotherapist).