KARACHI, July 20: Fourteen U-16 hockey teams, named after those hockey greats who have passed away, will feature in the second Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) U-16 tournament, starting here on Thursday at the Olympian Iftikhar Syed Sports Academy (OISSA).

All the teams were picked at the conclusion of the coaching and training camp held at the OISSA from June 1 to July 10 under the supervision of Olympian Iftikhar Syed.

“We wanted to start the competition immediately after the end of training camp, but the law and order situation in the city barred us from doing so. However, we are all set now with the boys raring to go,” Iftikhar Syed remarked while speaking to Dawn.

The teams will play on single-league basis with eight matches to be played each day on the four small 60x25 yards grounds, while the little goal posts, measuring 5x4, are made for the 40-minute duration matches.

Kits for the teams have been provided free of cost by the OISSA, while the PHF donated 200 hockey sticks for the event.

Following are the selected 14 teams named after legendary Olympians: Late Brig Atif (coach Ismail), Late Habib-ur-Rehman (coach Shan), Late Habib Ali Kidi (coach Afwan), Late Munawar-uz-Zaman (coach Shahrukh), Late Khursheed Aslam (coach Yaseen), Late Munir Dar (coach Naqee), Late Saeed Anwer (coach Hamza), Late Tanveer Dar (coach Noman-ul-Hasan), Late Qazi Muhib (coach Mohammad Usman), Late AG Khan (coach Shakir), Late Colonel Dara (coach Shabbir), Late Riazuddin (coach Ahmed), Late Naseer Bunda (coach Rais Mukhtar) and Late Latif-ur-Rehman (coach Ahsan).