Oman to gear up for HWL with Wapda series

By Anuroop Athiparambath — MUSCAT: Oman hockey team is set to make most of a three-match series against Pakistan domestic side Wapda, which began on Saturday. Oman Hockey Association (OHA) Chairman Talib al Wahaibi said the series will help Oman gain much needed exposure of playing quality foreign players. Introducing the Wapda delegation at the Oman Olympic Committee headquarters, Al Wahaibi said he is looking forward to the series as a good chance for Oman players to enhance their skills. “I hope Oman players will put up solid performance against the experienced Pakistan side. Through the series, Oman also aim to score points on Asian Hockey Federation’s (AHF) High Performance Project.” “We had some Pakistan players playing in the HM’s Cup 2016 for champions Seeb and runners-up Bausher. The OHA is delighted to bring a good side to Muscat and present three matches for the hockey lovers in Oman,” the OHA chief said. Wapda will play three matches against Oman team at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher. The matches will start at 7 pm. The first match is on January 21, second one on January 23 and the third match on January 25. New Oman coach K K Poonacha said the series will be important for the 33 Oman national team probables, who are undergoing a training camp. “The performance in this series will be taken into consideration for the selection to the national squad of 18 for the second round of Hockey World League (HWL) in Dhaka, Bangladesh from March 4­12.” “Wapda are a quality side and this is great chance for us to gather experience of tough match situations.” Current Pakistan national team captain Farid Ahmed and world No 3 ranked player Waseem Ahmed are among the stalwarts of the Wapda, who have six Pakistan national team players and five from the junior national team. The team is coached by Mirza Wahid Baig, who have 20 years of coaching experience. The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) team will use the series to gain foreign exposure, said skipper Wasim Ahmed, who plays for a Melbourne club and coaches a local side in Australia. The series will be sponsored by Muscat Beach Trading. Chief organisers of the series, Aslam Nawab, CEO of Muscat Beach Trading, and Syed Aftab Gilani, who had previously organised an exhibition match between Oman national team and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in August 2016, said a grand celebration will be hosted on the final match of the series on January 25. Oman team manager Asim Dawood al Maimani and Oman goalkeeping coach Shakir Munir were also present. The other Pakistani stars with the Wapda team are Mohammed Imran, Mohammed Irfan, Tasawar Abbas, Ajaz Ahmed, Mohammed Khalid, Umair Sarfraz, Amin Yousuf and Asif Michael. Four of those players — Mohammed Imran (Dhofar Club), Mohammad Irfan (Salalah Club), Tasawar Abbas (Seeb Club) and Ajaz Ahmed (Seeb Club) have played in the 2016 His Majesty’s Cup Hockey Championship. In Dhaka, a total of eight teams will be vying for two direct places into the semifinals. Besides Oman and hosts Bangladesh, the other teams that will be in action are Canada, Egypt, China, Fiji, Ghana and Sri Lanka. Oman probables: Gassan Ghareeb al Hassan (goal keeper), Aiman Abdallah al Katheri, Hammad Salim al Fazari, Salah Nasir al Sadi, Abdullah Hamood al Alawi, Khalid Juma al Shaaibi, Ashraf Talib al Nasri, Ammar Juma al Shaaibi (all from Ahli Sidab), Ahmed Sabil al Balushi, Mohammed Amid Said, Younis Ghabish al Nofli, Basim Khatir Rajab, Mohammed Hobais al Shar, Sami Awadh Said al Loun, Wail Hassan Sanjour, Shahab Nahadh Abdul Rasool, Fahad Khamis al Nofli (goalkeeper) – all Al Nasr, Shafi Talib Ramadhan (Dhofar), Said Rashid al Hasni (goalkeeper), Mahmood Salim al Husni, Motasim Abdul Rehman, Marwan Abdul Rehman, Qasim Moosa, Muhammed Hassan al Lawati (all Seeb), Mahdi al Atabi (Sohar), Omer Salim al Nofli (Saham), Mohmmed Abdullah Matooq (Salalah), Amjad Abdullah al Hosni (goalkeeper), Khalid Mubarak al Battashi, Muhanna Nasir al Hosni, Immad Ayyad al Hosni, Ali Hammad al Hosni (all Basher) Wapda squad: Saghir Ahmed, Mirza Waheed Baig, Mohammed Usman, Abdul Saeed, Waseem Ahmed, Mohammed Khalid, Adnan Aslam, Mohammed Imran, Amin Yousuf, Ghazanfar Ali, Mohammed Nadeem, Adnan Babar, Mohammed Qasim, Sohail Anjum, Zohaib Ashraf, Mohammed Irfan, Fareed Ahmed, Ajaz Ahmed, Umair Sarfraz, Tasawar Abbas, Khizar Akhtar and Asif Michael.