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LAHORE, Sept 20: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Friday named a 16-man team for the Asian Games that will be held in Busan between Sept 29 and Oct 14.
Only two changes were made in the 18-man side that returned last week after completing a more than 10-week tour of Europe during which it also participated in the Commonwealth Games and the Champions Trophy.
Kamran Ashraf and Mohammad Usman were left out while Khalid Saleem was added.
Kamran last week announced his retirement from international hockey while Usman pulled out because of hamstring injury.
Inside-left Khalid Saleem was recalled after he was declared fit from back injury. The team that was originally scheduled to be named on Sept 18, was also delayed because the selectors were waiting for the clearance on Khalid.
“The national selection committee members, after thorough discussion have recommended the below-mentioned final line-up, approved by the president PHF,” the press release stated.
TEAM:
Goalkeepers: Ahmad Alam, Muhammad Qasim.
Full-backs: Sohail Abbas, Tariq Imran, Zeeshan Ashraf.
Half-backs: Ghazanfar Ali, Wasim Ahmad, Muhammad Saqlain, Dilawar Hussain.
Forwards: Mudassar Ali Khan, Muhammad Shabbir, Kashif Jawwad, Muhammad Sarwar, Nadeem Ahmed, Khalid Saleem, Rehan Butt.
No changes were made in the team management that comprise Lt Col Zafar Ali Khan (manager), Tahir Zaman and Asif Bajwa (coach and assistant coach) and Waqar Saleem (doctor/physio).
TIRKEY RETAINED
NEW DELHI: Defending champions India have retained Dilip Tirkey as captain of their 16-member hockey squad for the Asian Games, Reuters adds.
India are in pool A of the eight-team competition with Hong Kong, Japan and hosts South Korea, who were runners-up in Bangkok four years ago.
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers - Devesh Chauhan, Bharat Chetri
Defenders - Dilip Tirkey (captain), Jugraj Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh, Dinesh Nayak
Midfielders - Viren Rasquinha, Vikram Pillai, Ignace Tirkey, Bimal Lakra
Forwards - Dhanraj Pillay, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh, Daljit Singh Dhillon, Gagan Ajit Singh, Tejbir Singh
Coach - Rajinder Singh
