Zeeshan to lead Pakistan Olympic squad

LAHORE - The Pakistan Hockey Federation has on Monday announced a team of 16 for Beijing Olympics with Zeeshan Ashraf retaining the position as captain of the squad.

PHF president Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali besides the main 16-member team also announced the names of nine reserves and put Mohammad Atique (defender) and Amin Khan (forward) in the immediate required list in case there were any injuries.

Jamali said that Olympics was the major event of hockey. "Ask any player and he would want to be an Olympian. A player can be an international but his foremost priority would be to become an Olympian," he added.

After nearly a month long training at the camp at Lahore where players underwent physical as well as technical training with match drills for about 120 hours, they have now set their sights on the victory podium.