KARACHI: One more player Rizwan Ali has joined the national hockey camp which is in progress at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium in preparation for the Champions Trophy slated in Bhubaneswar, India, from Dec 6 to 14.

Following his joining, the strength of the camp trainees has raised to 29 out of 38 probables invited by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

The remaining probables are expected to report in the camp by Nov 6 or 7 before the two-day trials which have been brought forward to Nov 11 and 12 instead of Nov 14 and 15, chief coach Shahnaz Shaikh told Dawn on Friday.

Citing reason for rescheduling the trials, he said Pakistan hockey team will visit South Korea from Nov 20 to 28 to play four to five friendly matches against their counterparts in order to rectify weaknesses before entering the Champions Trophy.

After the South Korean assignment, the team will return to Karachi and resume practice. It will fly to Bhubaneswar on Dec 2 to feature in the Champions Trophy instituted by Pakistan way back in 1978.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2014