KARACHI: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) will hold two-day open trials simultaneously at Karachi and Lahore on Sept 14 and 15, aimed at scouting young players with an eye on future.

“Players who are intrested to take part in the open trials from Sindh and Balochistan have been asked to report at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium on Saturday at 12pm,” Olympian Ayaz Mahmood, a member of the national selection committee, told Dawn on Thursday.

He said besides him, two other city-based selectors Kaleemullah and Waseem Feroz will watch the trials and select a pool of talented players.

He said chief selector Manzoor Hussain Jr, Khalid Hameed and Nasir Ali will observe open trials at National Hockey Stadium Lahore for Punjab and northern area players and pick the best lot of players.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympic gold medallist said PHF has decided to give chance to all players without any discrimination.

“Though there will be no age restriction for appearing in the trials the selectors will prefer to pick young players aged 22 or 23 years who can be groomed for the 2024 Olympics,” he remarked.

Ayaz, who has a rich experience as selector, was of the view that the PHF should start afresh and the senior players who have failed to deliver for the last couple of years should be shown the door.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2019