Kashif Abdul Razzaq
In order to bring improvement in the field of sports and discover new talent, the Pakistan Hockey Federation, under the auspices of the Higher Education Commission, is organizing the “Prime Minister of Pakistan Talent Hunt Program” for hockey from July 12 to July 19, 2023, at the Naseer Banda Hockey Stadium in Islamabad.
The federation has announced the ambassadors, selection committee, and technical officials for the men’s and women’s hockey matches to ensure the successful completion of the tournaments in the best possible manner.
According to the announcement by the Pakistan Hockey Federation, Olympian Shakeel Abbasi has been nominated as the ambassador for the men’s matches, while Saira Ashraf International has been nominated for the women’s matches.
Under the Prime Minister’s Talent Hunt Program, a selection committee headed by Olympian Rahim Khan has been formed to search for new talent for improvement in national sport, hockey. The members of the selection committee include Ikhlaq Usmani, Waqas Akbar, Raja Shahid Iqbal, and Zakir Allah.
The technical officials nominated by the Pakistan Hockey Federation are as follows: Tournament Director: Dr. Ahsan Tanveer, Secretary-General, Islamabad Hockey Association. Assistant Tournament Director: Raja Shuja Iqbal, Asif Baig, and Rafat Masood. Syed Ghaffar Shah, Syed Zia Hussain Bukhari, Najeeb Khattak, Nasir Mughal, Chaudhry Mahmood Ahmed, Muhammad Ashraf, Naveed Marza, Gulfam, Kaneez Sagheera, and Farzana Rashid will fulfill their responsibilities as technical officers.
For the field of umpiring, International Umpire Jameel Butt will be the Umpires Manager, while Ijaz Ahmed will be the Assistant Umpires Manager. Raziya Rizvi will be responsible for the duties of Women’s Umpires Manager.
The nominated umpires panel by the Pakistan Hockey Federation includes M. Azim, M. Sajid, Shahzeb, Iftikhar, Haji Fahim, Waqas Ahmed Butt (WAPDA), Anwar Hussain (Army), Wasim Abbas (Army), M. Ehsan Yousaf (Army), Asad Abbas (Army), and Malik Safdar.
Under the Prime Minister’s Talent Hunt Program, Muhammad Yasin, Secretary-General, District Hockey Association Rawalpindi, has been appointed as the Chief Coordinator by the Pakistan Hockey Federation for men’s and women’s hockey matches.
