May 18, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 01, 1428

KARACHI, May 17: While Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary and chief selector expressed disappointment over team’s horrific show at last week’s Azlan Shah Cup, manager-cum-chief coach Islahuddin Siddiqui has opted for diplomacy, refusing to comment on whether the team’s performance was disappointing or otherwise.

The Olympian, who returned last night after his side put up a worst-ever performance in the Malaysia event by finishing sixth, neither admitted nor denied that it was a disappointing show. Instead, he repeatedly said it was “rebuilding of the team for 2008 Olympics.”

“No, I will not say whether it was a disappointing performance or not. I will say the team is going through a rebuilding process. We don’t have any magic wand. It will take at least four to five years to form a formidable side,” Islah told a press conference at the Hockey Club of Pakistan.

Former Pakistan captain, who claimed to have taken a start from scratch last month, was far from convincing when asked how he could justify his claims while outfits such as India had no less than half a dozen new faces and Malaysia and Australia too fielded several newcomers.

“I agree that other teams had several young players with them. But we are going through a rebuilding process,” he said without elaborating on reasons of Pakistan’s pathetic performance, although opposition had several new players.

Australia won the tournament after defeating Malaysia 3-1 in final, while India settled for third place.

Islah, however, added that the team lost 4-2 to South Korea in the crucial pool match since it was Pakistan’s fourth match in the tourney without a break after an unfortunate power outage at the venue had forced the game to be rescheduled.

However, when grilled by the media, the manager said it was no excuse for the debacle but it affected the team badly.

“It is not an excuse but we should also consider what happened during the tournament. We were doing excellently before the play was interrupted. We wanted to continue but there was not enough light. I admit that South Koreans played better when the match re-started after two days and our team played poorly,” he said.

Interestingly, Islah was the tournament director when a match of inaugural 2005 Super Hockey League in Karachi was also stopped for at least an hour owing to power failure as there was no proper back-up support available at the venue.

And when the lights did come back, they were inadequate. Besides the pitch was also bumpy and the whole league featuring six Indians was played under inadequate lights.

Islah, who had conducted strenuous training sessions prior to team’s departure for Malaysia, said training of forwards, penalty corner specialists and various combinations were focussed upon during the training. He, however, admitted in the same breath that the players lacked physical fitness and accuracy.

The chief coach, who is the first-ever paid coach in the annals of Pakistan hockey, said while Pakistan beat lowly-ranked Argentina 5-3 in warm-up game, they lost 4-2 in the fifth place playoff since “team had lost interest in the tournament.”

“We scored six out of 19 penalty corners which is 30 per cent ratio of conversion.”

Islah discreetly avoided a reply when he was asked to comment on the possible recall of three senior players – Mohammad Saqlain, Sohail Abbas and Waseem Ahmad – who were earlier banned by PHF chief Zafarullah Jamali for indiscipline last year.

“PHF president has already debarred those players, so it is better to keep quite on this issue. But all I can say is that they should go and talk to PHF chief if they want to play again.”

Asked why he took charge when he felt that the team needed at least four to five years to get into shape, the manager said he did so because it was “national duty”.

Ironically, while the Olympian cited patriotism as the main factor for taking over the reins of the national side, he had refused a similar offer from PHF last year.