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(HOCKEY) Indo-Pak
Hockey Series Venue Changed SHARJAH: The proposed Pakistan-India hockey series will now be played in Australia in June instead of Malaysia, according to a top official of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). "Originally the series was planned before the Azlan Shah Cup tournament from March 17-20 but we are in the process of shifting it to Perth as Indian Hockey Federation has informed us their team is not available before Azlan Shah Cup," said Brig Musarratullah Khan in a telephonic interview with the News. Pakistan is scheduled to play two 4-nation tournaments in Australia involving Germany, India, and the hosts. The first event will be played at Perth from May 28 to June 4, the second at Sydney from June 8-13. "We are considering the option to play at Perth before or after the four-nation tournament," said PHF official. He said IHF has communicated to PHF that their team cannot take part in the series at Kuala Lumpur due to shortage of time and is not available for the event and asked us to explore another opportunity for the series at another time and venue. Pak Coach Says Indian Players
'Over-age' (Go
To Top) KARACHI: Pakistani team was defeated by "over-age" players fielded by India during the under-19 hockey event in Malaysia, Dawn said quoting coach Ayaz Mahmood. "Some of the Indian players definitely looked over-age. The organizers also had the same opinion", the coach said. However, the team management did not lodge a protest. Pakistan finished third in the four-nation Under-19 tournament hosted by Malaysian involving Pakistan, India, South Korea, Malaysia's seniors and a Under-16 side. The side thrashed South Korea 7-0 for the third place playoff. In their league games, Pakistan lost to India 2-0, drew 2-2 with Malaysia, routed Malaysian Under-16 6-0 and beat South Korea 5-0. Chances of
Indo-Pak Hockey Series Dim (Go
To Top) KARACHI: Pakistan and India are unlikely to meet in a proposed Test series on a neutral venue anytime before the summer of this year. Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Secretary Brigadier Musarratullah Khan said from Lahore on Saturday that though there was a move to hold the three-Test series in March, there was little chance that the games could be played before May. The move to revive the Pakistan-India series that was last played in 1998 on a home-and-away basis is presently being made by the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) with the support of their Pakistani and Indian counterparts. However, there is a slight difference of opinion among the three parties as the MHF, who are looking forward to a lot of interest in the series by the Malaysians, Indians and Pakistanis, are planning to hold the matches in March, while the PHF and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) want it to take place in May. The MHF want to include the series in their plans for the first quarter of 2003, just before the Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Kuala Lumpur in March when both Pakistan and India will be among the participating teams. But the PHF and IHF officials are more interested in playing the series in May just before their teams leave for Australia to compete in two four-nation tournaments in Perth and Sydney. The idea of holding a Pakistan-India series on a neutral venue has been toyed around since 2000 with sports promoters in the UAE showing interest in organising the event in Dubai. But the plans were shelved after the organisers failed to develop proper facilities to hold such an event. Later, officials in Malaysia and Singapore expressed their interest in hosting the series. If the series does take place this year, it will be quite ironical as in 2003 Pakistan and India - who've seldom played each other in recent years - will meet five times in different competitions, including the Champions Trophy in Amsterdam in August. -ANI |
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