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KARACHI: Despite chief coach Rana Mujahid's doubts, Pakistan junior hockey team's young captain Mazhar Abbas remains optimistic about his team's appearance in the coming six-nation 1st Sultan Johor Junior Hockey Tournament to be played in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, from Nov 5 to 12.
“We are a fine side and I am hopeful that the team will perform well in Johor Bahru,” asserted the junior team's lone goalkeeper and captain to Dawn.com on Friday.
Meanwhile, the team's chief coach and manager Rana Mujahid was not so sure about the young side that has been performing consistently since 2009 when it returned with gold from the Junior Asia Cup in Myanmar.
“Our chances of winning are slim now as we would be playing without four of our key players,” Rana pointed out on the sidelines of the ongoing junior camp at the Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP) here.
The coach was talking about four of his more experienced players, namely, halfback Rizwan Jr, right-in Irfan and midfielders Ali Shah and Umar Bhutta, who have been promoted to the senior camp in preparation for the Champions Trophy to be played in New Zealand in December.
The team has replacements in the form of Hafiz Omar Sardar, Kareem Khan, Bilal Khan and Bilal Qadir of whom the three mentioned first are completely raw and untested talent while Bilal Qadir has had some international experience.
“Still I can't really complain as I have being saying it from the start that my boys are a fine backup for the senior side, which is our priority,” Rana added.
But his captain, who has himself been knocking at the senior team's door for sometime now, was of the opinion that even the replacements were top class.
“The three new boys are the cream of the Pakistan Hockey Federation [PHF] academies. They will do us proud, you'll see,” predicted the 18-year-old from Toba Tek Singh.
Mazhar, who plays for the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) during the domestic season, has been a part of the senior camp, which is on the lookout for a new goalkeeper, for the last three or four occasions.
“I have been practicing with the senior side as my name has been included in their list of probables since the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Being a standby goalkeeper for the national team, you never know when I will get promoted myself,” said Mazhar who was also captain of the Jr Asia Cup team that won bronze in Singapore in July this year.
Before that he was the star goalkeeper in the junior team that lost to Australia in the 1st Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to settle for a silver medal in Singapore in 2010. Mazhar made a mark in that tournament when he successfully blocked a penalty stroke in the final.
Besides Pakistan, the forthcoming six-nation event features hosts Malaysia, Australia, Korea, New Zealand and India.
About their toughest opponents in the forthcoming event, Mazhar provided: “They would have to be Australia, Korea, New Zealand and India. All are good sides but we are up for the challenge.”
The team leaves for Peshawar on Oct 31 from where they will leave for Malaysia on Nov 1.
Squad: Goalkeeper: Mazhar Abbas (captain).
Fullbacks: Khalid Bhatti, Aleem Bilal, Waseem Abbas.
Midfielders: Zohaib Ashraf, Salman, Kashif Javed, Tasawwar Abbas, Bilal Khan.
Forwards: Rana Umair (vice-captain), Arsalan Qadir, Dilber Hussain, Hafiz Umar Sardar, Bilal Qadir, Adnan Anwar, Karim Khan, Asad Bashir, Ahmed Zubair.
Standbys: Amjad Ali, Ammad Butt, Hafiz Rizwan and Zohaib Khan.
