Pakistan Hockey team to play 10 matches on European tour

KARACHI, April 11 (APP): Pakistan hockey team will be playing as many as ten international matches during their European trip starting from May 21, Secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Khalid Mahmood said on Friday.

“Pakistan will be touring Germany, France and Belgium from May 21,” he said. Pakistan will play four internationals against Germany on the first leg of their tour.

German Hockey Federation has fixed this event in between a women’s competition to be held in Cologne.

He said Pakistan team will play three matches each against France and Belgium after the German tour.

“We want to provide extensive practice to the team in build-up for the Beijing Olympics,” Olympian Khalid Mahmood said.

Khalid Mahmood said PHF Chief wanted to provide maximum exposure to the players before the Olympics to achieve better results in China.More Details>>

India may lose chance to host Hockey WC

India is now in real danger of losing the chance to host the 2010 Hockey World Cup.The International Hockey Federation has decided that the progress in its pet project 'Promoting Indian Hockey' is still far from satisfactory, and that means the world body has already started looking at alternate venues.The provisional award to India was announced last year.India's failure to qualify for the Olympics and cold-shoulder to Technical Advisor Ric Charlesworth, its long-standing struggle to find a sponsor for the event and the lack of progress on the infrastructure front are reasons for the mess.More Details>>

Hockey eves face tough task

"We require the good wishes of the country," a coach attached with the Indian women's hockey team said prior to the team left for the Olympic qualifiers at Kazan, Russia. Apart from the good wishes, the side also requires large dollops of luck and pluck to overcome the odds and pip a side like United States which ranks above India in the world order. The Americans rank 11th to India's 13th. The difference may not be much, but it's a known fact that development of the game has come to a near standstill in the past compared to foreign teams which have progressed by leaps and bounds in the period. Though chief coach Maharaj Kishen Kaushik and Co. have tried their best in the given possible time, but the chances of qualifying for the Olympics can at best be termed 'remote'. According to an insider, the team is also struggling with injuries to some of their key players like skipper Mamta Kharab and drag-flicker Jasjeet Kaur. Unless the two attain prime form and fitness before the opening match against hosts Russia on April 19, it will be quite an arduous campaign for the side. More Details>>