LAHORE Fresh from victory in the World Cup qualifying round, Pakistan hockey coach Olympian Shahid Ali Khan has stated that though the next target was to win the Challenge Trophy-I round in Argentina to enter next year's Champions Trophy which was quite challenging, his players are quite able to overcome this hurdle, too.
Speaking to the media, on the first day of the training camp, set up at the National Hockey Stadium on Monday for the Challenge Trophy, Shahid pointed out that the morale of his team was high after having won the qualifiers in France last week to secure a berth in the World Cup.
He added that they were now ready to win the top position in Argentina, too to play the Champions Trophy.
The Challenge Trophy will be held in Argentina from Dec 6 and the national team will leave on Nov 28.
'Yes the Challenge Trophy-I is a hard competition as compared to the World Cup qualifiers, because tough teams like New Zealand, India, Argentina, Belgium will be fighting for the top slot,' he said.
Shahid said though penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas played outstandingly well in the World Cup qualifiers, he had more expectation from him in Argentina.
In all, 25 probables were called for the camp but 20 reported on the first day.
While three seniors namely Rehan Butt, Wasim Ahmad and Salman Akbar are playing league hockey abroad and likely to join the camp on Wednesday, Sohail Abbas and Abdul Haseem Khan will report on Tuesday.
