April 3, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 30, 1424

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KARACHI, April 2: The Azlan Shah hockey title has instilled confidence in the squad said coach Shahnaz Sheikh on Wednesday but he did not rate it a major tournament like Champions Trophy or the World Cup.

“The win has certainly boosted the morale of the team. But I won’t say the tournament was like Champions Trophy or the World Cup. It is just the beginning and the Champions Trophy will be my main objective,” he said on his return from Malaysia.

Pakistan lifted the cup for the third time after edging out world champions Germany 1-0. The green shirts hammered New Zealand 6-1, lost to Germany 4-3, beat Malaysia 3-1 and South Korea 1-0.

Pakistan’s task was made somewhat easier by the Indians who withdrew at the eleventh hour from the tournament as a protest over the arrest of Indian software professionals in Malaysia.

Shahnaz, however, considered the event a tough one, saying it was participated by world champions Germany and the Asian champions South Korea.

However, at the same time he admitted almost all the participants were going through rebuilding phase and had several new faces among their ranks.

“It’s true the opponents had young and new players. South Korea had six new boys, Malaysia five and Germany had three, while Kiwis had the same squad which played last year’s Commonwealth Games,” Shahnaz, under whom Pakistan bagged the crown for the first time in 1999, said.

Shahnaz said the tournament had also exposed deficiencies like high missing ratio, while off-the-ball tactics of the players would also be focussed at the next training camp.

“Although I am satisfied with the right wing, still a lot of improvement is needed. We scored more field goals than on penalty corners which is a proof forwards played according to the plan. Especially Kashif (Jawwad) scored goals consistently after a long time.

“I agree the kind of display my boys gave against the Koreans was not that I wanted. It was below-par play but it proved blessing which helped us win the final. It was the first time that we maintained the lead till the end after scoring an early goal against Koreans,” he said.

According to coach, his side scored 14 goals altogether which included eight field efforts and six penalty corner strikes.

He, however, did not agree Sohail Abbas’s performance was below standard and added it was due to stunning performance by German custodian because of which Sohail failed to score in the final.

“Sohail was named player of the tournament because of his improved tackling. But he can’t be blamed for failing to score as German goalkeeper gave an extraordinary performance,” he argued.

Shahnaz ruled out any major changes in the squad as he felt it was not only the newcomers who gave positive results, but the seniors also fared well.

“Except Shakeel Abbasi, who did not play as Kashif was in form, 17 players were tried during the tournament, while all the 18 players were tested during the three-Test series against Malaysia. There are 99 per cent chances that same squad will be retained for the Champions Trophy.”

Asked why full-back Tariq Imran played only three games of the tournament he replied: “I wanted him to recover and then go into the field. And that worked.”

Tariq played the first half of the final against Germany, Malaysia and South Korea, the coach said.

Shahnaz was for the three-out rule, saying it would help eliminate the defensive play making the game more attractive. According to the experimental rule three players must be outside their defensive 23-metre area at all times.

Pakistan now prepare for their next assignments, four-nation tournaments in Perth and Sydney in May-June featuring Pakistan, India and two Australian teams.