September 8, 2003	Monday	Rajab 10, 1424

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LAHORE, Sept 7: The national hockey team management and Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) are yet to decide the number of team members for Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur starting from Sept 21.

Team manager Abdul Rashid Junior said he had tabled a proposal to PHF to increase the number of players to 20 instead of already announced 18 players.

The former Olympian said he wanted to give exposure to more players before the Olympics qualifying round in Madrid, Spain.

He said some more players could be tested since Pakistan would play a match against Japan before Asia Cup and PHF was also planning another game against South Korea.

However, Rashid refused to disclose the names of two players which he wants to include to the 18-member squad. PHF had named an 18-member team for last month’s Champions Trophy in the Netherlands and had announced it would be retained for the Asia Cup.

Meanwhile, defender Ali Raza received four stitches after he injured his chin during training on Sunday. According to the manager, remaining players were physically fit.