When will Pakistan hockey team leave for Asian Games?

ISLAMABAD: The national hockey team will depart for China on September 21 to participate in the 19th edition of Asian Games starting from September 23 in Hangzhou, China.

Training camp of the team to prepare for the mega event is underway here at Naseer Bunda Hockey stadium, said team manager Saeed Khan, adding that the camp is going on in two sessions to make some good combination in the forthcoming event as the players have got few days for preparation of the Games.

Saeed added that under the supervision of head coach Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh, special attention has been given to the shortcomings of the players.

“We are hopeful that the team will succeed in winning medals at the Asian Games,” he said.

The team management has also requested the federation to replace unfit players with healthy ones but the decision in this regard has not been made yet, the official said. Pakistan and India’s teams are in Pool A, while other teams of the pool are Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Uzbekistan.

Pakistan hockey team will play their matches against Singapore on September 24, Bangladesh on September 26 and Uzbekistan on September 28. The match between traditional arch-rivals Pakistan and India is scheduled on September 30, while the Green Shirts will play the final pool match against Japan on October 2.