LAHORE: Not looking too worried by Pakistan team’s big-margin defeats in the recently-concluded World Hockey League (WHL) Semi-finals, head coach Khawaja Junaid said on Tuesday that the national team has achieved targets as Pakistan have qualified for next year’s World Cup.

Talking to the media here, the head coach said that the main target of the national team was to make it to the 2018 World Cup which the team had achieved.

“We have succeeded in qualifying for the World Cup and soon the FIH will also announce our qualification for the World Cup,” Junaid maintained.

Although the former Olympian brushed off Pakistan’s poor form as well as recent heavy defeats at the hands of India and rookies like Canada, it is a must to mention that Pakistan conceded 28 goals while scoring just nine in the WHL.

India defeated Pakistan twice by big margins, thrashing greenshirts 7-1 in the first encounter and 6-1 in the second. Canada also overwhelmed Pakistan 6-0 which is even more alarming, considering the former’s rookie status in world hockey.

Pakistan only succeeded to win against lowly-ranked Scotland and China by identical 3-1margins.

In his news conference, Junaid, however, admitted that Pakistan’s performance in certain matches, especially against India and Canada, was not at par with rivals.

Talking about performance thrown up by junior players, the head coach said that the national team played with nine junior players who, he added, failed to convert chances into goals.

However, he held out hope, stating that the greenshirts would do well in the upcoming World Cup. “We have still got 247 days in the World Cup which is enough time to prepare a formidable side for the mega event,” remarked the former Olympian.

The head coach was quick to remind that last time Pakistan failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, brushing off the fact that this time the FIH has increased the number of teams featuring in the World Cup scheduled to be held in India.

Comparing performance of Pakistan and India, the former Olympian said Pakistan finished seventh with limited resources while India succeeded in attaining sixth spot despite having billions of rupees in their kitty.

“Also, Pakistan team played such a big event after a long time period,” he said, adding having qualified for the World Cup, world’s best teams would now invite Pakistan to play series against them.

The head coach said the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) should start hockey league on priority basis to groom new talent, adding the Pakistan Super League (PSL) had done wonders for the betterment of cricket and a similar league in hockey would help in revival of the national game.

To a question whether he would resign as former Olympians also wanted his removal from coaching post, Junaid said it was up to the PHF to take any decision in this regard.

Talking about his future planning, the former Olympian said that India, South Korea and Japan had already started playing against European teams and “we have to chalk up a future plan in this regard.”

Stating that the upcoming Asia Cup would be important for Pakistan which would be held in October, the head coach said senior players would be in the run for selection.

“Senior players like Rizwan Senior, Rashid Mahmood and Fareed Ahmad who were not considered for the WHL would be called to camp and in the run for the selection, if they prove their fitness,” added the head coach.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2017