The Junior Hockey World Cup is a few days away as the Pakistan Junior team have arrived in Bhubaneshwar. Pakistan Junior team skipper Abdul asserted that the Pakistan team will surprise everyone in the world with their level of hockey.
Pakistan were a major superpower in hockey having won the Olympics gold medal three times in their history. However, off late, they have not found their feet as such due to several factors. The senior team recently failed to qualify for the 2016 and 2021 Olympics main event. However, they are looking to seek some inspiration from their junior team who are in Bhubaneshwar now to feature in the Junior Hockey World Cup.
“Our government, senior officials in our federation are putting in a lot of sincere efforts, and I am certain in next 1-2 years you will start seeing Pakistan getting better,” Abdul said during a virtual press conference.
“In this tournament also, you will see the Pakistan junior team putting up a good show, you will see a change in Pakistan hockey. The team is playing as a unit and there is a family atmosphere and I am sure Pakistan will surprise the entire world with its hockey.”
Pakistan Junior team head coach Danish Kaleem also reiterated the same thing as he also highlighted how lack of jobs played a big role in their decline in sports overall. “Reasons could be many why there has been a decline of Pakistan hockey but I can say this much that the preparation have started for both the senior and junior teams,” Kaleem said.
“The top officials are professional people, who are preparing the team so that in the next 1 to 3 years our team start showing better results,” he added.
Kaleem pointed out how Pakistan have a lot of talent for hockey and is hoping that his team performs well at the Junior World Cup as it will be telecasted live on television sets in their country. A good performance here will motivate the youngster and may change the overall hockey structure in their country.
“Pakistan hockey can go much higher from here and in this event there will be live matches and people back home, including the juniors and U-16, will be watching the players. It is our effort that our players produce a good performance and give hope to them,” he explained.
