ISLAMABAD: Junior hockey team left for Australia here on Friday to participate in the Australian National Junior Championships.

According to a press release issued here, the Women’s and Men’s Aus­tralian Junior Cham­pionships would take place in Hobart from April 19 to 29.

After the junior championships, the boys would stay in Australia for around four months to take part in Australia’s hockey league participated by various club teams.

“The boys will learn a lot from playing in Australia’s domestic circuit,” maintained team’s head coach Kamran Ashraf who said that Australia were the reigning world champions from whom Pakistan junior players could learn a lot.

“Players will also be attending training sessions conducted by Australian coaches,” he further said.

Bahawalpur-based Junaid Manzoor will lead the juniors while Moin Shakeel of Lahore is his deputy.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2017