Pakistan Hockey Team captain Imad Shakeel Butt is hopeful that Olympic Games They will surprise the nation in the qualifying rounds starting from January 15.
He believes that the combination of senior and junior players has made a good team and it has players who will soon take Pakistan, ranked 16th in the world, into the top ten.
When Imad came to Mardan along with young player Zakaria Hayat, the city mayor organized a feast in his honor.
On this occasion, Imad expressed regret that during the last 12 years, the Pakistan hockey team could not qualify for the Olympic Games.
He said that the national team will leave for Muscat, Oman on January 13, where there will be eight teams participating in the qualifying rounds of the Olympics.
“In these rounds we have to qualify in the top three, hopefully we will achieve our target.”
He said that Pakistan is going to compete with better opponents.
Pakistan will play their first match against England on January 15, Malaysia on January 16 and China on January 18.
Imad said that Pakistan will be able to qualify for the second pool only if it finishes first or second in all three matches of the first pool, where it will face teams from Germany, New Zealand, Canada and Chile.
“We will have to play a semi-final with one of them and finish in the top three to qualify for the Olympics.”
Imad wants to give Pakistan at least one Olympic medal before retirement. “Pakistan will surprise the nation in the first match of the qualifying round.”
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Imad, who is playing Commonwealth Games in England for Pakistan in 2020, has been playing for a foreign hockey club.
He said that he has returned to Pakistan on the invitation of Pakistan Hockey Federation and will now play for his country.
Imad attributed lack of resources to the decline of hockey in the country, saying that the team could not play several tournaments due to lack of funds despite preparation.
“For this reason, the points of the team continued to be cut at the international level, due to which Pakistan came to the 16th place in the world ranking.”
He also requested the Pakistani nation to come towards sports as much as possible.
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2024-08-18 06:02:51
