ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan will not send its men’s hockey team to India for next month’s Asian Champions Trophy, with Bangladesh brought in as a late replacement, according to the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) and multiple regional outlets that reported the withdrawal earlier this month.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) had asked the AHF to move its fixtures out of India or stage them at a neutral venue, citing the safety of its players and support staff amid strained relations between the two countries. Hockey India rejected the request and said the tournament would go ahead as scheduled in Punjab. PHF president Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani, who is also federal secretary at the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, had said last month that the team’s participation was contingent on government clearance and that the federation would “do whatever the government asks” of it. The PHF has not issued a separate public statement confirming the withdrawal.
Oman had also been considered as a stand-in before the AHF confirmed Bangladesh as Pakistan’s replacement. The six-team tournament, running from October 27 to November 5, will see hosts India — the reigning Asian Games champions — joined by Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, China and Bangladesh. League matches are scheduled at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar, with the semi-finals and medal matches at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali; India open the tournament against Bangladesh on October 27.
The withdrawal follows a bruising month for Pakistan against India on the hockey field. The two sides met in the Asian Games semi-final in Nagoya on October 1, where Pakistan clawed back from 3-0 down before Abhishek Nain’s late winner sent India through 4-3 and on to a gold-medal match against the winner of South Korea and Malaysia. It extended India’s unbeaten run against Pakistan to 21 matches.∎
