KARACHI, Dec 31: A 22-member Pakistan under-19 squad is due to leave for Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to take part in floodlight Under-19 Hockey Tournament being held there from Jan 5-12.
Left-in Tariq Aziz will be leading the team while centre half Muhammad Imran will his deputy.
Besides Pakistan, India, South Korea and two teams from Malaysia will be featuring in the eight-day, four-nation competition.
One Malaysian side participating in the event will comprise of under-16 players. Pakistan squad: Shakir Muneer, Muhammad Adeel Anwar (goalkeepers). Ikhlaq Ahmed, Muhammad Tariq Yamin, Adnan Hamid (Full-backs) Abdul Asim Khan, Muhammad Imran Khan, Khalid Mahmood, Sajjad Anwar, Muhammad Imran (Half-backs). Owais Khan, Mahmood Ali, Yasir Islam, Tariq Aziz (Captain), Adnan Zakir, Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Naeem Akber, Abbas Haider (forwards).
Col (Retd) Abdul Rauf (Manager), Ayaz Mahmood (coach), Asif Bajwa and Salman Wahab (Assistant coaches) will accompany the team.
Javed Iqbal and Naeem Akhtar have been invited to supervise in the competition as judge and umpire.
Besides Pakistan, India, South Korea and two teams from Malaysia will be featuring in the eight-day competition.
Pakistan will take on arch-rival India in the championship on Jan 5.
Following is the programme of the event:
Jan 5, Pakistan vs India, Malaysia vs Korea Jan 6, India vs Malaysia, Korea vs Malaysia PS Jan 7, Malaysia PS vs Pakistan Jan 8, India vs Korea, Pakistan vs Malaysia Jan 9, Malaysia vs Malaysia PS Jan 10, Malaysia PS vs India, Pakistan vs Korea Jan 11, Rest day Jan 12, final and play-off for 3rd and 4th place.—APP