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KARACHI: Having closely watched all the players in action in the recently-concluded 59th National Hockey Championship, Olympian Islahuddin Siddiqui on Wednesday pointed out a few things that the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) would need to work on ahead of the London Olympics including setting up of lengthy camps to polish he players’ skills.

“Some of the matches I watched at the ground while saw the rest on TV. At the ground, I was saddened to see the empty stadiums. Even the other teams not playing on the day wouldn’t be there to watch the playing,” observed the former Pakistan captain about the National Championship that was held at the Hockey Club of Pakistan here from Jan 26 to Feb 11.

“The reason for this could be that our people may now be losing interest in hockey owing to the national team’s repeated failure in major events such as Olympics, World Cup and Champions Trophy,” Islah said.

About his own observations of the national championship, Islah said that the standard of the matches was rather poor. “They were okay if you judge them by domestic standards but they were not really up to the level of international hockey. There was room for improvement in areas of physical fitness and skill while constant missing by the forward line should be a cause for alarm for the PHF at this point when the Olympics are approaching,” he pointed out.

“Then, with all the teams more or less comprising players who have already played with the senior or junior teams, I also could not see any exciting new talent emerging from the event,” Islah added.

“The only two players of repute in my eyes would have to be SSGC’s Shabbir Ahmed Khan, who top scored in the championship, and PIA’s Kashif Ali, who also scored a hat-trick in the final. Both the boys have played for the national team at some point of time and are awaiting another chance now. They can definitely strengthen the side,” he elaborated.

About what the federation should do in order to prepare a strong side for the Olympics, Islah said that they should look into holding lengthy camps. “They need to hold a continuous six-week-long camp, from the end of May to early July before going to the Olympics,” suggested the former coach.

“The six-week camp should have the coaches informing the players, from goalkeeper to left-out, about their weaknesses. They should be given a deadline, say three weeks, to overcome their drawbacks ahead of the trials,” he said.

“The federation should also take care to hold this camp away from the big cities as our players find plenty of other things to do in big cities which keeps them from concentrating on improving their game,” said Islah.

“The hours after physical activity should also be reserved for strategic workout when the coaches sit and assess the previous day’s sessions through video analysis, etc.”