KARACHI: Pakistan hockey team was working hard to improve penalty-corner conversion and penalty shootout for the upcoming Champions Trophy, chief coach Shahnaz Shaikh said on Friday.

The Champions Trophy will be held in India from December 6 to 14.

Talking to APP here at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium, he said improving these two departments for better results was necessary for the tough event.

“Special training sessions are being conducted for the purpose,” Olympian Shaikh said.

“We are fully aware of our grey areas and working to improve them with the help of coaches,” he said.

He said innovating things and new drills were being tried to improve conversion rate.

Shahnaz said captain Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Tousiq were going through strenuous workouts.

Similarly, he said special emphasis was being given on the shootouts as Waqas Sharif and Haseem Khan missed vital penalty strokes in the final against India at the Asian Games in Incheon.

He admitted that Pakistan was not strongly prepared in that department.

“We are now preparing tactics and strategy for a match which goes for shootout,” he said.

He expressed hope that despite financial difficulties players will give their best performance.

Pakistan team will take on Belgium in their opening match on Dec 6. They will then face England the following day before taking on Australia on Dec 9.

The quarter-finals will be played on Dec 11, semi-finals on Dec 13 and the title clash on Dec 14.

Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2014