Islahuddin wants PHF to initiate All Pakistan Talent Hunt Prog.

ISLAMABAD -- Former Olympian Islahuddin has urged the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to initiate the All Pakistan Talent Hunt Programme to search for the budding players for future.

Recently Pakistan after playing a nail-biting 4-4 draw against the Netherlands in the first match of the two-match Olympic qualifier in Amsterdam, were outplayed 1-6 by the hosts in the second game resulting in ouster from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The green-shirts did not qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics too.

Islahuddin, who led Pakistan to Hockey World Cup glory in 1978, expressed disappointment for the team's ouster from the Olympics, and said visionary measures were needed to revive the game and regain lost glory.

'From the Talent Hunt Programme, we need to build three teams' youth, juniors and seniors and must engage them in long training camps minimum of three months to improve players' physical fitness,' he told reporter.

Islahuddin, who played between 1967 and 1978 and was capped 130 times scoring 137 goals, said then we need to identify the grey areas and needed to work on them removing the weaknesses of players.

'Pakistan hockey was lagging 12 years behind the Olympics as the Green-shirts last got to play in the 2012...