KARACHI
\nAfter finishing at the 11th spot in the recently concluded FIH World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium, Pakistan men\u2019s hockey team will be desperately looking to finish on the victory podium in the men\u2019s hockey event of the 20th Asian Games in Japan.
\nThe Asiad is going to formally open on September 19 in Aichi-Nagoya, and organisers have already set up a cruise ship to house 4,000 athletes and officials due to accommodation issues. Ranked 12th in the world, it would be a testing event for the Green-shirts to do something extraordinary and finish at the top.
\nHowever, Pakistan chief selector and former Olympian Samiullah has said that Pakistan should reach the final of the quadrennial event.\u201cWe should play the final,\u201d Samiullah told The Express Tribune on Wednesday. \u201cIf we get even a silver in this event, it will be a good achievement for our brigade,\u201d Samiullah was quick to add.
\nThe chief selector recalled that Pakistan played a few good games in the Hockey World Cup.\u201cI think the team has played good matches in the World Cup, barring the one against Wales (3-3), which we should have won. It was unnecessarily drawn,\u201d Samiullah said.
\nPakistan have a rich history in the Asian Games, having won eight gold, three silver and the same number of bronze medals since the 1962 Jakarta edition.
\nPakistan last won a silver medal in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. \u201cWe will need to improve a lot, especially within the area. If you don\u2019t manage clearance, you will give the opposition the chance to get penalty corners,\u201d Samiullah said. \u201cThere is also a big stamina issue with our boys, and we will also need to improve our goal-scoring ability.
\nOur penalty corner conversion rate is also not that satisfactory. These are some of the grey areas which we should cover,\u201d Samiullah said. The chief selector said India is too tough a side and beating them would not be an easy task.\u201cEven beating Japan is also not that easy,\u201d Samiullah was quick to add.
\nIn the quadrennial event, Pakistan have been placed in Group B with Malaysia, China, Oman, Uzbekistan and Thailand.India, Japan, Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia are in Group A. The top two sides from each group will progress to the semi-finals, which will be held on October 1, with the final to be conducted on October 3.
\nSamiullah said foreign coaches have done well by making the players mentally strong. Pakistan, in recent matches, especially in the World Cup, have shown glimpses of sudden outbursts and scored goals in no time. But Samiullah said it would be useful to take the lead, hold it and further build on it.
\n\u201cThis will happen only when you play controlled hockey in all zones,\u201d the chief selector said.Samiullah said the Korea trip has given Pakistan good practice ahead of the Asian Games. \u201cIt will help the team definitely in Japan.
\nIt was important,\u201d said Samiullah. Pakistan will launch their campaign with their match against Thailand on September 20. It will be followed by matches against Uzbekistan (September 22), China (September 24), Malaysia (September 26) and Oman (September 28).
\nPakistan squad: Muhammad Abdullah, Muhammad Sufyan Khan, Moin Shakeel, Abdul Waheed Ashraf Rana, Abdul Hannan Shahid, Zikriya Hayat, Arshad Liaqat, Adeel Latif, Ahmad Nadeem, Ghazanfar Ali, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Muhammad Hammaduddin Anjum, Abdul Rehman, Afraz, Umar Mustafa, Abu Bakar Mahmood (captain), Abdul Manan and Muhammad Ammad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI After finishing at the 11th spot in the recently concluded FIH World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium, Pakistan men\u2019s hockey team will be desperately looking to finish on the victory podium in the men\u2019s hockey event of the 20th Asian Games in Japan. The Asiad is going to formally open on September 19 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-567569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n