KARACHI: Billed as a curtain-raiser for the three-match home series against the World XI next month, the international Nishan-i-Haider 9 ners hockey tournament pushes off at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium here on Wednesday.

The event will mark the revival of international hockey in the country which has once ruled the world in the game.

Maj M. Akram 9ners faces L/N M. Mehfooz 9ners in the opening match at 8.30pm under floodlights of the first ever such spectacle being organised by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

The Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah is expected to grace the opening ceremony.

The PHF has named 11 teams and every outfit includes a foreign goalkeeper.

Four Argentine goalkeepers were the first to arrive in the city and were followed by seven Australians. The foreigners have been lodged at Hotel Movenpick. The Pakistani players who feature in the event, have also reported at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Stadium on Tuesday. They have been provided accomodation at a nearby hotel.

Meanwhile, the PHF has revised the draws after releasing it to the media on Monday.

The organisers were busy in giving final touches to host the event in a befitting manner.

Teams:

Hav Lalak Jan 9ners: Berkeley John Bruton (goalkeeper/Australia) Ali haider, Rizwan Ali, Moin Shakeel, Ghazanfar Alim, Ali Raza, Waqar Ali, Umair Sattar, Ahmed Nadeem, Afraz Nakeem, Naveed Alam, Ali Aziz, Abdullah Bukhari.

Officials: Muddasir Ali Khan (Manager/

chief coach), Khurram Malik and Kamran Ahmed (coaches).

Naik Saif Ali Janjua 9ners: Emiliano Bosso (goalkeeper/Argentine) Ali Anwar, Amjad Ali, Adeel Latif, Junaid Manzoor, Shahzaib Ali, Khairullah, Awais Arshad, Zakirullah, Hammad Anjum, Abdullah babar, Ahmed Ali, Yousuf Rizvi,

Officials: Tariq Mir (Manager/chief coach), Junaid Khan and M. Muddasir (coaches).

Maj. Raja Aziz Bhatti 9ners: David Arthur Reid (goalkeeper/Australia), Hasnain Babar, Waqas Ahmed, Ibrahim, Essa Khan, Junaid Rasool, Rana Waheed, Roman Khan, Mohsin Khan, Ilyas, M. Abdullah, Mohammad Anees, Rashid Sardar.

Officials: Kashif Jawad (Manager/chief coach), M. Anis and Inam-ur-Re(coaches).

Capt Sher Khan 9ners: Kirk Joshua Blaise Mckeller (goalkeeper/Australia), Nabeel Hussain,Salman Shaukat, Rehan Butt, Omer Bilal, M. Yasir, M. Omer, Abid Bhatti, Mohibullah, Arshad Liaquat, Mohammad Abid, Zeeshan Alvi, Usman Hanif.

Officials: M. Usman (Manager/chief coach), Rehan Butt and M. Irfan (coaches).

Maj. Rana Shabbir Sharif 9ners: Mattew Graeme Fleming (goalkeeper/Australia), Abid Ali, Asad Aziz, Sohail Manzoor, Tanzeem-ul-Hasan, Faizan, Rana Sohail, Mohammad Naveed, Nohaiz Malik, Amir Ali, Shahbaz, Junaid Kamal, Abdul Moiz.

Officials: Saqlain (Manager/chief coach), Naeem Ahmed and Aleem Raza (coaches).

Maj M. Akram 9ners: Nicholas James Holman (goalkeeper/Australia), Sajid Rasheed, Khalid Bhatti, Taimoor Malik, M. Sajid, Faisal Qadir, Ali Hasan Afraz, Shajeeh Ahmed, Zulqarnain, Amjad Rehman, Shan Irshad, Awais-ur-Rehman, Haseeb Aslam, Usman Nazim.

Officials: M. Irfan Sr (Manager/chief coach), Masood-ur-Rehman and M. Riasat (coaches).

L/N M. Mahfooz 9ners: Zachary Edward Walker (goalkeeper/Australia), Shameen Munir, Shah Faisal Shah, Mubashir Jibran, Ali Raza, Sultan Amir, Mohsin Sabir, Rana Umair, Zeeshan Bukhari, Umair Hamdi, Saran Bin Qamar, Bilal Qadir, M. Yasir, Noman Janjua.

Officials: Mansoor Ahmed (Manager/chief coach), Nadeem A. Khan and Khawar Javed (coaches).

Mohammad Hussain Janjua 9ners: Joaquin Moreiro Varela (goalkeeper/Argentine), M. Sabir, Saleem Nazim, Asif Hanif, M. Adnan, Ghazanfar Ali, Zahidullah, Qamar Bukhari, Khizar Akhtar, Fahadullah, Mohammad Asif, Zain Ejaz, M. Abbas, Mohammad Usman.

Officials: Ehsanullah (Manager/chief coach), Amir Saleem and Azlan Khan (coaches).

Rashid Minhas 9ners: Gonzalo Martin Marues (goalkeeper/Argentine), Shoaib Shabbir, Sikandar Mustafa, Rehan Ashraf, Asim Johnty, Mohammad Qasim, Kashif Javaid, Akbar Ali, Waseem Akram, M. Dilber, Waseem Aslam, M. Hasan Saleem, Faraz Dar, Asad Mahmood.

Officials: Dilawar Hussain (Manager/chief coach), Imran Rasool (coach).

Maj. Tufail Mohammad 9ners: Juan Ignacio Diaz (goalkeeper/Argentine), M. Asif, M. Aqib, Sunil Mehmood, Sher M. Kakar, Farhan Younus, Wahab Mazari, Irfan Jr, Sohail Anjum, Bilal Mahmood, Kashif Ali, Shehryar, Hasan Anwar, Naveed Iqbal.

Officials: Irfan Mahmood (Manager/chief coach), Tariq Imran (coach).

Capt. Raja Mohammad Sarwar 9ners: Ferguson Tobyjosiah (goalkeeper/Australia), Waseem Tariq, Qazi Isfarnyar, Mohammad Ali, Kashif Shah, Samiullah Khan, Fayyaz Yaqoob, Abdul Rehman, Samiullah, S. Abdul Jabbar, Karim Khan, Ammar Ali, M. Zubair, Rizswan Ali.

Officials: Asif Ahmed (Manager/chief coach), Zahid Afzal (coach).

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2017