ISLAMABAD
Inter Provincial Coordination Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada predicted green shirts victory in the final of Asian Games Men's hockey against archrivals India.
Riaz, terming Pakistan favourites in the match, hoped that Pakistan would register a thumping victory against Indians. He also congratulated Pakistan Hockey Federation and team officials for the performance of the team in the event. He also praised goalkeeper Imran Butt for saving the blushes of green shirts in the semifinal against Malaysia and had just conceded one goal in the event so far.
Riaz said he was personally taking care of the players for the provision of all possible facilities to them despite the limited resources. He said he would try to convince Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to support and facilitate hockey team even more for the improvement of the game.
Riaz said he had also ought explanation from Pakistan Squash Federation for the poor show of players in the event and would also meet POA president Lt General Syed Arif Hasan to discuss the poor show of Pakistan athletes in the Asian Games and persuading him to adopt a transparent merit policy while selecting the players.
He said he was expecting much better performance from Pakistani contingent in number of events but he was very disappointed and such results are not acceptable as huge national kitty was invested on players and it was time to take bold steps to turn the misfortunes in Pakistan’s favour.