June 11, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1423

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LAHORE, June 10: The team manager has asked the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to send the team directly from Commonwealth Games in England to Germany for the August’s Champions Trophy.

A 16-member Pakistan squad is scheduled to take part in Manchester Games from July 25 to Aug 4 after a tour to Spain where team will play four Test from July 12 to 20.

The Trophy to be hosted by Germany in Cologne will be organized between Aug 31 and Sept 6.

Col Zafar Ali Khan (retd) said Monday he had suggested to the PHF it would help the players acclimatize if they spend 24 days in Germany rather than coming back to Pakistan after the Games.

The team will be abroad for 57 days (from July 12 to Sept 7) if the manager’s request is accepted.

According to the manager, there would be no extra financial burden since the PHF would save expenditure of team’s travel from England to Pakistan, while there would be no training camp.

Meanwhile, eight turbines are being installed as replacement of a single tubewell at the National Hockey Stadium where a national training camp has been set up.

The tubewell, which broke down last Thursday, started Saturday after repairs. But it again stopped working Monday.

A Punjab Sports Board (PSB) official said the two turbines had started working, while the remaining would also be installed in couple of days.