LAHORE: Rana Mujahid, secretary of the Pakistan’s Hockey Federation (PHF) announced on Thursday, May 23, that the Pakistan hockey team had received the visas for their tour of the Netherlands and Poland.
The Pakistan hockey team will be travelling to the Netherlands in the first round, he further added, for training.
According to the sources, the national hockey team will leave for Poland from the Netherlands, where the FIH Nations Cup will take place from Friday, May 31. The Pakistani squad will qualify for the Pro League if their team ends up winning the Nations Cup event.
The Pakistan team already left for Amsterdam earlier today, according to the secretary of the PHF.
Austria, Canada, France, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa will join hosts Poland in competing at the men’s Nation’s Cup. The teams have been split into two pools of 5 and 4 teams. Pakistan is in Pool B with Canada, France, and Malaysia.
Pakistan team recently impressed during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia but lost in the final to Japan on penalty shootout.
Pakistan hockey was at an all-time low when they failed to qualify for the Olympics, where they won three gold medals, for the third consecutive time earlier this year. Additionally, the Green Shirts also failed to qualify for the World Cup, where they bagged gold four times in the past, last year.
However, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup proved to be a breath of fresh air for hockey fans after Pakistan qualified for the final of the event for the first time in 13 years.
Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.
