Pak lost due to bad luck -- manager

Pak lost due to bad luck -- manager
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Islamabad, March 25: Brigadier Khalid Khokar, manager of Pakistan hockey team, has attributed the team’s defeat to India in the final of the just-concluded Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Gold Cup to ‘‘bad luck and poor show’’.‘‘When two teams go down to the wire, luck plays a decisive role. In a penalty shoot-out you always have a 50-50 per cent chance,’’ he told reporters here on Saturday on return from Dhaka.

‘‘The basic aim of taking part in the Dhaka event was to prepare the team for important assignments in the future,’’ he said.

He said the combination that Pakistan tried in the final of the tournament did not work due to the absence of senior players Atif Bashir, Shabir Ahmad and Zakirullah.

‘‘We had very few opportunities from the right side. Sarwar, who gave a good display of his stick work as a left-in during Sydney Olympics, was asked to play as a right-in. Although he played well, there was no one to replace him on the left,’’ he said.

He said despite some good performances, the deep defence, especially, put on average show.

‘‘We had very little option as far as the goalkeeping was concerned and the performance of full backs was also consistent. We have to improve the quality of our defence to get better results,’’ he said.

Khokar, however, said that after few months training and international exposure, the team will be in a better shape for the four-Nation Trophy in June.

‘‘We have set our goals very carefully. We know that the team needs a bit more training, international experience and mental toughness to perform to it’s best,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, local media here reported that Maurits Hendriks, Holland’s coach at last September’s Olympic Games in Sydney, is keen to pay another visit to Pakistan in may to conduct a coaches’ clinic in Karachi.

Hendriks, who coached World champions Holland to consecutive Olympic titles in Atlanta and Sydney, told ‘The News’ that he will be available for any sort of coaching course that is held in Pakistan.

‘‘I am available for the future,’’ said Hendriks who is considered to be one of the most successful hockey coaches of the present era.

Hendriks conducted a coaches’ clinic in Lahore this January as a International Hockey Federation (FIH) master coach. A total of 20 coaches took part in the clinic.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) which organised the course was more than satisfied with the performance of Hendrik’s and have asked the International Hockey Federation to send him again for a similar kind of clinic to be held in Karachi from May 5 to 15, the newspaper said.

Hendriks, who has left the Dutch team and is presently coaching Spain, said that he has already sent his suggestions about the ‘‘combination of an advanced course and a new beginners course as requested by the PHF’’ to the Pakistani officials, it said.