logo
Pakistan not invited for Sultan Azlan Shah hockey cup by Malaysia due to...

Pakistan not invited for Sultan Azlan Shah hockey cup by Malaysia due to...

India.com27-04-2025

Malaysian Hockey Federation has not extended invitation to Pakistan for Azlan Shah Cup.
New Delhi: Due to outstanding payments of $10,349 owed by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to the Johar Hockey Association, Malaysia has not invited Pakistan to participate in this year's Azlan Shah Cup. The Johar Association has formally notified the PHF of this debt, which covers expenses incurred during a team visit to Malaysia in October 2023.
The Pakistan hockey team, accompanied by PHF officials and their families, traveled to Malaysia to participate in the Johar Hockey Cup.
'While the team's stay and expenses were to be borne by the organisers, the PHF officials which included the former President were told clearly they would have to clear all expenses themselves. These officials also stayed at the same luxury hotel where the teams were staying,' said the source.
The Johar association has raised concerns with the Malaysian federation regarding outstanding dues, and has warned of further action with the FIH if the payments remain unsettled.
'The current PHF President and his team are in a fix because the federation is already cash strapped and they were not aware of these expenses by former PHF officials,' the source said.
The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament will take place in Ipoh from November 22nd to 29th.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Cash-strapped Pakistan to send national team for FIH Nations Cup hockey
Cash-strapped Pakistan to send national team for FIH Nations Cup hockey

Economic Times

timea day ago

  • Economic Times

Cash-strapped Pakistan to send national team for FIH Nations Cup hockey

Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The cash-strapped Pakistan Hockey Federation has managed to send its national team for the FIH Nations Cup being held in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia from June secretary Rana Mujahid said that the federation president, Mir Tariq Bugti had got grants from the government, sponsorships and even individual donations to ensure the senior team plays in all its international events in the calendar year."The PHF is going through a financial crunch but we are managing somehow because unless our players don't compete regularly they will never move forward," the Olympian is currently ranked 15th in the FIH rankings, an improvement from the 20th position in Green Shirts didn't qualify for the last World Cup and last feattured in the 2012 London said the current federation was trying its best with its limited resources to first and foremost ensure players had no complaints about financial were facilitated properly and given the best training and preparation before each event."I have been a player myself and I know when the federation takes good care of a player he focuses completely on his game," he a first, the PHF has allowed head coach Tahir Zaman to select the 20-member squad himself without the help of any Imad Butt has been retained as captain for the eight-nation competition, which also features hosts Malaysia, France, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa and Waheed was named as vice-captain for the squad includes goalkeepers Muneer-ur-Reh-man and Abdullah Ishtiaq, alongside field players Mohammad Abdullah, Mohammad Sufyan Khan, Abdul Manan, Hamad Anjum, Arshad Liaquat, Mo-een Shakeel, Zakrya Hayat, Ghazanfar Ali, Salman Razaq, Junaid Manzoor, Afraz Khan, Abd-ul Rehman and Ahmed and Rana Waleed will travel as reserves."The selected team is a balanced one and we are hopeful that this team will produce desired results," Tahir said."I picked the players based on their camp and recent performances in international events," he said the FIH Nations Cup was a major event for Pakistan as a win would mean a promotion to the FIH Pro League next year and also prepare the players to qualify for next year's World Cup from other events like the Asia Cup and qualifying tournament.

Cash-strapped Pakistan to send national team for FIH Nations Cup hockey
Cash-strapped Pakistan to send national team for FIH Nations Cup hockey

Time of India

timea day ago

  • Time of India

Cash-strapped Pakistan to send national team for FIH Nations Cup hockey

The cash-strapped Pakistan Hockey Federation has managed to send its national team for the FIH Nations Cup being held in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia from June 15-21. PHF secretary Rana Mujahid said that the federation president, Mir Tariq Bugti had got grants from the government, sponsorships and even individual donations to ensure the senior team plays in all its international events in the calendar year. "The PHF is going through a financial crunch but we are managing somehow because unless our players don't compete regularly they will never move forward," the Olympian said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This 'Invisible Workout' Is Quietly Replacing Diets in the UK dailybuzzreport Undo Pakistan is currently ranked 15th in the FIH rankings, an improvement from the 20th position in 2022. The Green Shirts didn't qualify for the last World Cup and last feattured in the 2012 London Olympics. Live Events Mujahid said the current federation was trying its best with its limited resources to first and foremost ensure players had no complaints about financial hardships. They were facilitated properly and given the best training and preparation before each event. "I have been a player myself and I know when the federation takes good care of a player he focuses completely on his game," he said. In a first, the PHF has allowed head coach Tahir Zaman to select the 20-member squad himself without the help of any selectors. Shakeel Imad Butt has been retained as captain for the eight-nation competition, which also features hosts Malaysia, France, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa and Wales. Rana Waheed was named as vice-captain for the campaign. The squad includes goalkeepers Muneer-ur-Reh-man and Abdullah Ishtiaq, alongside field players Mohammad Abdullah, Mohammad Sufyan Khan, Abdul Manan, Hamad Anjum, Arshad Liaquat, Mo-een Shakeel, Zakrya Hayat, Ghazanfar Ali, Salman Razaq, Junaid Manzoor, Afraz Khan, Abd-ul Rehman and Ahmed Nadeem. Mohib-ullah and Rana Waleed will travel as reserves. "The selected team is a balanced one and we are hopeful that this team will produce desired results," Tahir said. "I picked the players based on their camp and recent performances in international events," he added. He said the FIH Nations Cup was a major event for Pakistan as a win would mean a promotion to the FIH Pro League next year and also prepare the players to qualify for next year's World Cup from other events like the Asia Cup and qualifying tournament.

Indian badminton's biggest current nemesis – a dosai-loving, soft-spoken Malaysian guided by Herry, the Indonesian Magician
Indian badminton's biggest current nemesis – a dosai-loving, soft-spoken Malaysian guided by Herry, the Indonesian Magician

Indian Express

time2 days ago

  • Indian Express

Indian badminton's biggest current nemesis – a dosai-loving, soft-spoken Malaysian guided by Herry, the Indonesian Magician

Twitter imbeciles of sport in India, looked at Aaron Chia, watched him outwit Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at Singapore last week, and brought out the first three-letter body-shaming word they could summon. The Malaysian doubles player, one of the finest in the world, with one World championship in 2022 and two Olympic bronzes in 2021 and 2024, is not very tall, but stocky. Neither of which has interfered with him and partner Soh Wooi Yik developing a doubles game that can trouble the best in the world. Social media trolling and fan-wars often stem from ignorant understanding of the sport, and fans from two nations have often traded vile racist and body shaming insults directed at the shuttlers, with all of Aaron Chia, Satwik and Chirag being targets. Between the pairings, cordiality and respect prevail effortlessly, and badminton is always interesting. But the disservice to a game matchup, and a wazzocky focus on nationalities means, when the Indians do beat the Malaysians, there is little comprehension of what they have achieved either. So who is Aaron Chia? An extremely soft-spoken wizard of badminton who had once enthusiastically spoken of competing with buddies on the number of dosais he could polish off, like some Indians compete on pani puris. Prolifically talented with strokeplay, not needing overt aggression or any other antics because his racquet can write entire symphonies. Stocky yes, but he put himself through such a regimented punishing routine before the Paris Olympics – not to lose weight per se, but lean out to achieve agility and quicken reflexes. The Malaysians beat the Indians and went on to take bronze. A masterly reader of the game, who keeps pulling wins even if their coaches and opponents know they can improve their attack from the back court exponentially. At the net, his skills from serve variations to puppeteering entire passages of play with his deceptions and reflexes and racquet sleights, have cost Indians some massive matches. The head to head is 10-3, but the two pairings have played some of the toughest badminton and are part of each other's storyline, like Carolina Marin and Nozomi Okuhara are pivotal to Sindhu's career arc. While the Olympics loss was the most heartbreaking one handed out to the Indians, Aaron-Wooi also notched a 21-16 in the decider at the 2022 World Championship semis. Satwik-Chirag had denied the Malaysians the Asian Games gold match, and also won their Indonesian Open crown, beating the Malaysians. But even two Olympic bronzes and a first-ever World title doesn't assure Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik of eternal loyalty of their own fans. Men's doubles can be cruel that way. At the Sudirman Cup this summer, Aaron-Wooi were fielded in a Knockout against Japan, ahead of the higher ranked Sze Fei-Izzuddin. Fresh from winning the Asian Championships, the Malaysian coaching group reckoned they were riding a wave against Hoki-Kobayashi. No.3 seeds Chia/Soh 🇲🇾 go toe-to-toe against Rankireddy/Shetty 🇮🇳.#BWFWorldTour #SingaporeOpen2025 — BWF (@bwfmedia) May 31, 2025 The matchups in doubles get intriguing depending on playing styles that combinations are uncomfortable with. So Satwik-Chirag rarely struggle against Hoki-Kobayashi, but the Malaysians had an eight-match losing streak, and a wretched H2H of 2-11 playing the Japanese. Losing in the Sudirman Cup 3-2 to Japan as they lost the fifth decisive game, plunged Aaron-Wooi's popularity greatly. It was a proper scandal, with soul-searching and firings of coaches demanded, the usual refrain of allowing juniors to take over and a dark time for Aaron Chia personally. Those that pick on Satwik-Chirag for their colour, are not very kind to their own either. It's why when the duo won the Singapore Open and finally reversed the scoreline, even the Malaysian deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi breathed a sigh of relief, recalled a loss from India Open and gushed on Fb saying, 'But today, they came back to redeem that defeat and proved their mettle on the final stage.' As such, the duo called 'backup pair' in Malaysia, are in the middle of a purple patch – winning three of their last five tournaments. It prompted former World No 1 Malaysian Koo Kien Keat, who formed a world No. 1 partnership with Tan Boon Heong, to challenge them to match his Malaysian record for most men's doubles titles in a calendar year — six in 2007. No matter how big your achievements in men's doubles, the top level is so punishing that every pairing has its nemeses, mental demons and injury litanies and struggles – making it mentally challenging to retain the perch. Aaron-Wooi themselves were called bottlers on the World Tour, losing six consecutive finals before finally netting the Super 750 Denmark Open in 2023. Boorish badminton fans, looking for eternal highs and dispensing judgments on Twitter, are hardly aware of how tough the grind is, with every Chinese, Danish, Korean and Indonesian pair under constant scrutiny in a teeming calendar with no respite. What will help Aaron-Wooi, not too unlike the Indians having the sagacious coaches Tan Kim Her and Pullela Gopichand with them, is the arrival of Indonesian coaching great Herry Iman Pierngadi. 'Fire Dragon' is a 68-year-old Indonesian legend who trained Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan to thumping the Chinese at home in the Beijing Olympics final and shepherded Chandra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan. He faced a barrage of criticisms after the Sudirman exit, but stayed calm and unfazed knowing he knew better. Coach Herry has put an end to the Aaron-Wooi iffiness and hesitation especially in crunch scenarios against the Chinese. 'They now stick to their gameplan, even under pressure, and that's a huge step forward,' says Kein Keat, as quoted by Straits Times. The duo tended to panic and snatch at shuttles in crunch situations but that has drastically reduced. The coach has polished their game that can now launch comebacks from brinks of defeats, something Malaysians, considered brittle, were not known for. At the All England they lost in the first round, and Herry would call it the worst day of his coaching career. But the last month has seen them gain solidity. An example of Aaron and Wooi getting even more formidable since Herry's coaching was in a tournament semifinal when he told them they had come quite far so they could afford to play on like a training game. Freed of pressure, Aaron hit the high notes. Herry told FMT he was pleased to watch them displaying much improved tactical maturity, especially when under immense pressure from their opponents. For Satwik-Chirag, who progressed at Indonesia even after Aaron-Wooi slumped in Round 1 after three good weeks, the next battle gets interesting. Coach Tan is equally astute and will pit his planning wits against Herry IP, a legend whenever the two pairs meet. When fully fit, Satwik-Chirag can outgun Aaron-Wooi though the intricacies of strategy on both sides are a delicious prospect. The retired Indonesians Ahsan-Setiawan are role models for both the Malaysians and Indians. And both Satwik-Chirag will tell you they can counter Aaron Chia, but will see no reason to disrespect the amiable genius who has never been obnoxious on court. Wins and losses will get traded on court, but fans would do well to respect Aaron Chia as a formidable opponent whose shuttle skills deserve awe – a better three letter word than ones they foolishly throw his way for being stocky.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store