24 February 2004	Tuesday	03 Muharram 1425

KARACHI, Feb 23: Pakistan hockey squad left for Madrid early Monday morning without Mohammad Sarwar and Adnan Maqsood to take part in the Olympic qualifiers starting from March 2. Sarwar and Adnan missed the flight to Madrid owing to visa problems.

Sarwar's family sources said he was expected to depart for Madrid after being granted visa from the Spanish embassy on Tuesday.

The delay in getting Sarwar's visa was caused as Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) applied for it late. Pakistan are scheduled to take on Canada in the opener of the 12-nation qualifying round for the Athens Olympics in August. Top six teams of the qualifiers will qualify for Athens.

Meanwhile, Ammar Ishrat was out of action after a groin injury during the morning session of the national junior training camp at Hockey Club of Pakistan on Monday.

He did not take part in the practice game in the evening and may train after evaluation of his injury. The camp has been set up for the two four-match series against junior teams of The Netherlands and Malaysia next month.

Our Sports Correspondent adds from Lahore: PHF has again applied for Adnan's visa. Earlier, Spanish embassy refused to grant visa to Adnan due to security reasons.

He was denied visa since his name was identical to a suspect who was on embassy's list. The PHF officials are expecting that he will be issued visa in a couple of days.