May 1, 2003	Thursday	Safar 28, 1424

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LAHORE, April 30: Only assistant coach Tahir Zaman joined  the national training camp on Wednesday.

The camp is in progress at the National Hockey Stadium to finalise Pakistan team for back to back tournaments in Australia from May 29 to June 8.

The  camp started on Tuesday and run without  any  coach. Chief coach Shahnaz Sheikh could not reach here because his  wife was admitted in a hospital in Rawalpindi.

The camp-commandant Shahid Hamid Jaffery told Dawn  that Shahnaz had left Islamabad for Lahore at 2pm and he was very much likely to join the camp from Thursday.

Meanwhile, two more coaches appointed by the PHF including Shahid Ali Khan for goalkeepers and Khalid Bashir for the defence area could not join the camp due to family problems, Shahid said.

In all, 52 probables were called for the camp but out of them six were still missing. Among them one is Asim Chohana who  has sent his medical certificate. He is facing muscular problem.

The remaining five probables are Ahmad Alam, Mohammad Nadeem, Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Wasim and Aamir Saleem. Ahmad, who is in Malaysia, is likely to join the camp on May 2.

 Among the remaining three players, Sohail, Nadeem and Wasim are playing in Germany without getting permission from the Pakistan Hockey Federation, it was learnt. Aamir is also playing in England without getting any permission from the federation.

PPI adds: The national trials to select an 18-member Pakistan squad for two back-to-back three nation hockey tournaments in Australia will be held at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore on June 12 and 13.

Pakistan Hockey Federation Secretary Brigadier Musarratullah Khan said on Wednesday that around 50 probable will appear in the two-day trials that will follow a brief training camp.

Pakistan will join hosts Australia and archrivals India in the Perth tournament to be played from May 29 to June 2. Another local side, Australia A, will also feature in the event. Then the same four teams will move to Sydney to compete in another tournament to be played from June 4 to 8.

The Australian tour is a part of Pakistan’s preparations for the 2003 Champions Trophy in Amstelveen (Holland) in August and the Olympic Qualifiers in Madrid (Spain) in March next year.