KARACHI Pakistan hockey team's chief coach Michel van den Heuvel is yet to join the national camp underway at the Army Sports and Physical Training School, Tobe Camp Abbottabad, in preparation for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games.
Pakistan Hockey Federation's (PHF) most-expensive coach is still in Holland. When Dawn contacted PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa regarding the matter, he didn't see the coach's absence as anything to worry about.
“Well, he was expected to join on August 16. He will reach in a couple of days' time,” he assured.
When asked what the boys were doing at camp that started four days prior to the chief coach's arrival, he said “Michel had already assigned the assistant coaches with plenty work to do with the boys during this while. They will have them conditioned for further work that he will supervise himself soon after his arrival.”
Meanwhile, team manager Olympian Manzoor Jr informed that the boys, some of whom are also fasting, are carrying on with their training as per schedule under the supervision of assistant coaches Olympian Ahmad Alam and International Ajmal Khan.
“The weather in Abbottabad is rather pleasant and none of the boys are facing any difficulty in attending camp despite fasting,” he said.
“There are two sessions a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, that involve physical training, drills and match practice,” he added.
The first phase of national camp that began on Thursday will continue until August 26 while the second phase will be held in Holland from Sept 1 to 20 following which the team will proceed to New Delhi, India, to feature in the Commonwealth Games in October.
The team will be allowed a week's rest after that before the next national camp for the Asian Games (November) begins at National Hockey Stadium in Lahore from October 24.
The 25 players attending camp are
Salman Akbar (Lahore), Imran Shah (HBL), Zeeshan Ashraf (NBP), Mohammad Imran (Army), Mohammad Irfan (PIA), Waseem Ahmad (Wapda), Mohammad Rashid (Navy), Fareed Ahmad (HBL), Mohammad Tauseeq (NBP), Kashif Javed (NBP), Rehan Butt (Wapda), Shakeel Abbasi (SSGC), Abdul Haseem Khan (NBP), Shafqat Rasool (PIA), Mohammad Rizwan (Army), Mohammad Waqas (Wapda), Mohammad Umar Bhutta (HBL), Imran Butt (PIA), Mohammad Khalid Bhatti (HBL), Tasawar Abbas (Police), Abdul Ghaffar (Customs), Waqas Akbar (PIA), Mohammad Zubair (PIA), Shahbaz Ali (HBL) and Mohsin Bilal (PQA).
