LAHORE, Sept 12: China’s national hockey team will visit Pakistan for a five-match series in December this year amid security concerns expressed by many other countries over sending their outfits to Pakistan in the aftermath of March 2009 terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. “The dates for the [Chinese team’s] tour have been finalised while Lahore, Karachi, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur have tentatively been named as host cities for the said series,” Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Asif Bajwa said during a media briefing here on Monday.

The PHF secretary also unveiled the domestic programme of senior and junior levels, revealing a new national competition for the under-16 age group.

“As the two governments have declared the year 2011 as the Friendship Year for China and Pakistan, this hockey series is a part of that initiative,” secretary said.

“Hopefully, Chinese hockey team’s tour will act as an encouragement for other countries to send their teams to Pakistan, which is still safe for sports-related activities,” Bajwa remarked.

While disclosing the schedule of the matches, the secretary said the Chinese team would reach either Islamabad or Karachi on Dec 18.

“If the Chinese team arrives in Islamabad the first match will be played in Lahore on Dec 20, and if they land at Karachi then the series will begin in the coastal city,” he said.

The PHF official further said the second match would be held on Dec 21, either in Karachi or Lahore, again depending on the arrival plans of the China team.

“Sialkot, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur have also been proposed [for the series] where the matches could be held on Dec 23, 24 and 26,” Bajwa said, adding negotiations were in progress to give final shape to the itinerary.

In return, he said, Pakistan’s hockey team would tour China sometime next year.

He said only those cities had been picked for the Pak-China series where the game of hockey had deep roots, maintaining no match was allotted to Islamabad because there was no proper seating arrangement for the spectators.

Bajwa claimed that some other hockey-playing countries were also willing to visit Pakistan and that he would reveal the details about them after the series against China, hoping it would be a success.

While unfolding the domestic programme, the PHF secretary said the federation had decided to introduce national under-16 championship in its annual calendar, adding its first edition would commence in Lahore from Oct 1, 2011.

“The decision to introduce the under-16 event has been taken to grab the talent at an earlier stage to polish them for future demands. We have formed under-18 and under-21 teams and now the decision of introducing the under-16 competition will help us prepare back-up for the national side,” he said.

In the first edition of the under-16 contest, he added, 12 teams would take part — three from Punjab, two each from Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and one each from Balochistan, Fata, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

He said after the end of the championship the best players would be selected to form the national under-16 side, which would also tour any country.

In the juniors category, Bajwa said, an inter-academy tournament had been scheduled to be staged in Sialkot from Nov 26. The national under-19 championship is slated to be held from Feb 5, 2012 in Faisalabad while Karachi would host the third Junior SuperHockey League from March 1.

In the seniors category, he said, the All-Pakistan NBP Gold Cup tournament would be organised in Faisalabad from Nov 25, Peshawar would hold the national tray championship from Jan 3, and the national senior championship will be staged in Karachi from Jan 18.

For the women, the PHF secretary said, a series against India was expected either at the end of the year 2011 or in the beginning of next year. He said Pakistan women’s team would visit India to get exposure noting the Indian women’s team was a tough opponent.

The national women’s championship, he said, would be held in Lahore from Dec 10. He said PHF’s women’s wing had also been asked to hold two tournaments, one before the start of the national championship and the other after it.