Thursday, July 26, 2012

London2012: Pakistan pin hopes on hockey team

By Hamad Hussain


KARACHI: With the London2012 action just a few hours away, Pakistan’s sports fans are associating high hopes of a medal by the national hockey team but the road looks bumpy for the former Olympic gold medalists with European teams raising the bar high.

Indian hockey team is also looking to exhibit an impressive show as both Pakistan and its bitter neighbours are facing an uphill task at the London2012. Indian hockey team has won eight medals while Pakistan claimed three victories at the Olympics.



The biggest cause of concern for the Asian hockey teams is the newly-introduced blue pitch which has already attracted fair bit of criticism by the former legends like Aussie Ric Charlesworth and Indian Michael Nobbs.



However, Pakistan have shown least concern about the blue pitch. Pakistan hockey team’s coach Khawaja Junaid told British media, “The turf here at the Olympic hockey venue suits us fine, It’s certainly a bit slow and bouncy but it’s not really different from the turf we have back home especially the one in Islamabad. We are used to playing on such surfaces”.

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