Pak aim to start hockey revival at Jr World Cup
NEW DELHI: Once masters of the game, the Pakistan hockey team has failed to qualify for the last two Olympic Games. It did not make the cut for the 2014 World Cup (a tournament conceived in the country), failed to win even a single match at the 2018 edition and were also evicted from the first Pro League in 2019.
The pandemic completely halted their international calendar. But despite the odds and a drastic plunge, Pakistan aim to startle the hockey world once again when they take on sixtime champions Germany on the opening day of the Men’s Junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
“You will see in this tournament that Pakistan is a muchimproved team. Our combination is good, there is harmony and unity and we hope to surprise the entire (hockey) world with our performance,” said Abdul Rana, skipper of the country’s junior outfit.
Winners of the inaugural edition of the tournament in 1979, Pakistan have been clubbed with Germany, 2005 champions Argentina and Egypt in Pool D and will have to play out of their skins to make the quarter-finals, given that they have not played a single international event since last year. However, to provide the junior players match practice, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) had organised regular inter-departmental matches against top teams in addition to contests against the senior national team. The team management also held national camps regularly without long breaks to maintain continuity.
“If we had a four-week camp, we gave them a gap of one week after which they played domestic tournaments. There have been problems due to Covid-19 but that’s true for everyone else. My team is well prepared and we will try to overcome all odds,” said Pakistan head coach Danish Kaleem.
Kaleem is well aware of the Kalinga Stadium pitch and conditions in Bhubaneswar, having been part of the senior set-up that took part in the World Cup three years back. “I have experience of the conditions, the ground and the atmosphere, which is why the junior national camp was held in Karachi for the longest time as the conditions there are very similar to the weather in Odisha. We played two practice matches and the boys did not have any problem,” said the 48-year-old Olympian who came as an assistant coach in 2018.
The last time the Men’s Junior World Cup was held in Lucknow in 2016, Pakistan could not participate despite qualifying for the tournament. While FIH claimed that Pakistan had failed to submit their entry and visa applications before the deadline, PHF blamed India for not issuing visas. Relations got better and paperwork smoother in 2018 when the Pakistani senior team played the World Cup.
Having arrived in Bhubaneswar late on Saturday evening, the 18-member squad has already played two practice matches—against Chile on Sunday and Canada on Monday— behind closed doors.