LAHORE: The national selection committee on Thursday announced an 18-member Pakistan hockey squad for the Junior Asia Cup being held in Oman from May 23 to June 1.

The Kaleemullah Khan-headed selection committee, also including Nasir Ali and Shakil Abbasi and Laeq Lashari as its members, witnessed the performance of 28 probables at two-day trials before announcing the final squad.

Pakistan in the Junior Asia Cup are placed in a tough pool ‘A’ alongside strong teams of India and Japan while Thailand and Taiwan are also included.

Pool ‘B’ contains formidable outfits like South Korea and Malaysia besides Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and hosts Oman.

Pakistan face India on May 27 after opening their campaign against Taiwan on May 23 and then taking on Thailand on May 24. The green-shirts play their last pool match against Japan on May 29.

This event for junior players also serves a qualifier for the World Cup being held in Malaysia from Dec 5-16. Three countries will qualify from Asia for the World Cup.

Roelant Oltmans, the renowned coach of Holland, as consultant coach of the Pakistan Hockey Fede­ra­tion alongside coaches Adnan Zakir, Zeeshan Ashraf, assistant coach Asif Ahmad Khan and physio Waqas Mahmood were also present on the occasion.

Squad: Ali Raza, Mohammad Faizan Janjua (captain), Aqeel Ahmad, Arbaz Ahmad, Ihtesham Aslam, Mohammad Sufyan Khan, Arbaz Ayaz, Mohammad Murtaza Yaqoob, Arshad Liaquat, Ali Murtaza, Zakriya Hayat, Abdul Rahman, Abdul Qayyum Dogar, Abdul Hanan Shahid (vice-captain), Abdul Wahab, Basharat Ali, Bilal Akram.

Standbys: Bilal Khan, Mohammad Bilal Aslam, Mohammad Baqir, Mohammad Nadeem Khan, Mohammad Adnan, Waqar Ali.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2023