Pakistan hockey team management is hoping that their side will overcome inconsistency in the Champions Trophy hockey to remove the tag of a team not able to win a title. "We have been struggling for quite a long time to win Champions Trophy and now we are at the threshold of another opportunity and we hope that our team will show consistency to get the desired results," said assistant coach, Asif BaJwa and manager Samiullah here on Thursday.
Bajwa said inconsistency was a chronic problem of the Pakistani side which gave contrasting performances in the past, some times rising to the occasion, sometimes beaten by weaker rival or going down in crunch situations.
"Efforts have been made to eliminate this negative factor which let us down in a number of tournaments including Olympics in Athens where we lost a crucial match to Spain before doing so good in the tournament," he added.
Bajwa ,a former Olympian, said focus of attention in the pre-Champions Trophy training was to blend the team into a combination capable to cope with all types of situations.
"What was happening before the team was lacking in defence and attacks as well, besides a lot of space was created in the middle that cost us heavily and thereby resulted in defeats," he added.
Bajwa said special tactics were adopted to boost the defence, and to unite forwards in demanding situations as well as counter attacks.
"It is not easy to overcome all ailing factors in a short time but we have done our best to train and motivate the players who are in high spirit .They have also been told to make a fresh start leave behind sour memories of the past," he stated.
Samiullah said the fitness level of players is at peak and chief coach Roelant Oltmans has worked really hard to improve the fitness to a level where the player do not feel fatigue and play both the halves and even the extra time without any problems related to stamina.
"The team management has done its best to weed out weaknesses and worked on different plans to lift the performance and the real test of the team comes when it plays in the tournament and their performance will reveal how much progress they have achieved," he added.
The former Olympian said he was fully confident that the team would win the Champions Trophy, a victory for which the green shirts are aiming since the mid-1990s. Their last win was in 1994 at home under the captaincy of Shahbaz Ahmad Sr.
"The current performance and fitness level show that team is fully able to win the title in the toughest tournament of international hockey where six top sides are competing," he said.
The home team manager said winning the title will help change the fortune of the hockey of Pakistan and it will infuse a fresh life in the game in which youth has less interest due to their massive involvement in cricket.
Answering a question, he said, Holland, Spain and India will be the tough rivals for Pakistan and the home side must go all out for a win with a straight forward idea in the mind of players so that tey do not crubble under any circumstances.
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