July 19, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 22, 1427

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KARACHI, July 18: While Pakistan are expected to finalize their junior hockey squad for next month’s four-nation tournament in Singapore on Wednesday, chief selector Khalid Mahmood says he is totally unaware of any such activity.

Pakistan are scheduled to take part in the invitational event which starts from Aug 3. The two-day trials commenced on Tuesday while the squad is expected to be finalized on Wednesday.

Despite being the chairman of the selection committee, Khalid said he was not aware of any trials being held or that junior team would be finalized on Wednesday.

“If there are any trials tomorrow, I am not aware of it. I will talk to some official of the PHF on this matter,” Khalid Mahmood told Dawn from Lahore on Tuesday.

Khalid also disclosed that he was scheduled to appear before the Senate’s Standing Committee on Sports on Wednesday in Islamabad alongwith the PHF secretary Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan junior team manager Manzoor Jr said that in all probability the team would be announced on Wednesday after the conclusion of the two-day trials.

Apart from Khalid’s glaring absence from the junior trials, selector Manzoorul Hassan will also be missing from the occasion.

To fill the void, PHF has arranged for two makeshift selectors — PHF director technical Islahuddin Siddiqui and director domestic hockey Muhammad Shafique.

Apart from the two officials, two regular members of the selection committee, Hassan Sardar and Akhtarul Islam, will be part of the “selection committee” which will finalized the junior side.

“I am honestly not aware who will be selecting the team tomorrow,” said Khalid.

He categorically said that Shafique had no business with the selection since he was director domestic hockey.

Islah’s willingness to serve as selector on the occasion is, indeed, surprising since he has abstained from all selection committee meetings for almost a year. The former captain was finally sacked by PHF as selector last November before being appointed as director technical.

Shafique, on the other hand, has been embroiled in an ugly incident of beating up a Customs player Naeem Ahmad two years ago during a local tournament for which the player has lodged a complaint with the police.

The junior team coach, Qamar Ibraheem, is on record for saying that he would be more confident about the results if the selection committee stayed away from the team affairs.

Avoiding any comments regarding the selectorial judgements of the four selectors who select the junior squad in his absence, Khalid said that he already had the team management’s report on the Poland tour that took place this year which would help him select the players.

The chief selector, however, added that he would be taking up the selection matter with the PHF management.

“I will talk to somebody from PHF,” Khalid said when told about the four new players added to the list of junior probables from a back-up training camp held before the junior camp at Karachi’s Hockey Club of Pakistan.