Junior Asia Cup: Pakistan beat Oman in practice match

Pakistan junior hockey team defeated hosts Oman by three goals to one in a practice match ahead of the Junior Asia Cup.

Oman took the lead in the beginning of the match with a field goal, which was ended by Pakistan's vice-captain Abdul Hanan in the first quarter.

For Pakistan, Abdul Hanan scored two field goals while Arbaaz scored with a drag flick on a penalty corner.

Pakistan will play their second practice match on Monday (today) against South Korea.

The teams have been divided into two pools. Pool A comprises Pakistan, India, Japan, Thailand, and Chinese Taipei, while Pool B consists of Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

The event will be held from May 23 to June 1. Pakistan will play their first match against Chinese Taipei on May 23, Thailand on May 24, India on May 27 and Japan on May 29.

Under the supervision of the coaching staff, these players did extensive training in Lahore ahead of the event. The staff includes prominent names in the shape of Olympian Hanif Khan, manager, and consultant Roelant Oltmans.

Oltmans said that all he wanted was to see Pakistan making it to the semi-finals.

“I am here as the junior team consultant and my first challenge is to see Pakistan qualifying for the World Cup to be held later this year in India. If we succeed in making it to the semi-finals from Group A, we would be in a position to qualify for the World Cup,” he said.

“It is a tough task as there are some strong teams in Group A. I have very limited time at my disposal — almost 16 days here and a few days after reaching Oman. We want to make the best use of available time in an effort to get the favourable results. My efforts are to help the team make maximum use of their abilities. For that efforts would be made on targeted training. I will make sure to improve that side of the players’ quality which could help them get better results in the Asia Cup," he added.

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