Pakistan considering hockey games against India on neutral soil

May 23rd, 2009 KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is mulling to propose neutral venues for the 2011 World Cup matches that the International Cricket Council (ICC) denied hosting in Pakistan due to precarious security conditions. The PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said that the board is trying to hard to host the matches on Pakistan soil, but if it fails to do so it would want the matches to be held on neutral venues other than in any of the three host (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) countries.

May 16th, 2009 KUANTAN - South Korea won their third Asia Cup hockey title after edging past Pakistan 1-0 in a tough title-clash here Saturday. Drag flick specialist Kim Byung-hoon scored the winner in the 65th minute and finished as tournament's top scorer with six goals.

May 7th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan's hockey experts believe that the team will have to revert to the old style of playing attacking hockey to win the Asia Cup title in Malaysia. Pakistan is one of the seven teams competing in the 2009 Asia Cup which will get underway in Kuantan (Malaysia) Saturday.

May 4th, 2009 KARACHI - Just three weeks after crashing to a morale-shattering fourth position finish in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Pakistan flew back to Malaysia Monday hoping to lift their fortunes in the Asia Cup hockey tournament starting in Kuantan May 9. Pakistan are desperate to win the Asia Cup - an event that they last won in 1989 - and confirm a spot for next year's World Cup in India.

March 31st, 2009 KARACHI - The Pakistan hockey team is wary of Indian captain Sandeep Singh's ability to convert penalty corners and see the defender as one of the biggest hurdles in their bid to regain the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in the Malaysian city of Ipoh in April. Shahid Ali Khan, the Pakistan hockey coach, told IANS Tuesday that he sees India as the team to beat in the April 5-12 tournament mainly because it has the best short corner expert within its ranks.

March 19th, 2009 KARACHI - The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Wednesday announced its squad for the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup Tournament to be played in Malaysia. Zeeshan Ashraf will captain the side and Mohammad Imran will be his deputy.

March 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India thrashed Singapore 12-0 Thursday to top the table in the four-nation Under-21 Hockey Tournament at Johor Baru in Malaysia. Mandip Antil scored five goals while Danish Mujtaba and Lalit Upadhaya scored thrice each at the Taman Daya Stadim.

March 12th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Ice hockey players from Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir will represent India at an international event. The team will represent India at the IIHF challenge cup of Asia being hosted at Abu Dhabi.

March 10th, 2009 SYDNEY - Hockey legend Ric Charlesworth says the attack in Lahore has vindicated Australian hockey's decision not to tour Pakistan for most of the past decade. Charlesworth also said that the only reason Cricket Australia (CA) kept sending lower tier cricket teams, such as Australia A, was to satisfy the International Cricket Council (ICC).

February 12th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan Friday appointed Olympian Shahid Ali Khan as the new head coach of the national hockey team, assigning him to prepare a strong team for the Asia Cup in May in Dubai. The decision to appoint Shahid was taken during the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) executive board meeting in Lahore.

February 2nd, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Hosts India Tuesday stunned Beijing Olympics champions Germany 2-0 in a league match of the Punjab Gold cup hockey tournament at the Sector 42 hockey stadium here. Both goals for India came through penalty corners.

January 12th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan's hockey officials are making desperate attempts to line up quality matches for the national team in a bid to prepare it for the Asia Cup in Dubai in May. After pulling out of a four-nation hockey tournament in India because of the prevailing Indo-Pak tensions over November's terror attacks in Mumbai, Pakistan invited Malaysia for a Test series in February.

January 1st, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan Friday blocked its hockey and squash teams' tour of India because of the tense relations between the two countries, with Sports Minister Aftab Shah Jilani saying the authorities were concerned about the players' security in India in the current circumstances. 'We sought advice from the foreign ministry and took the decsion that it's not advisable to send the teams to India over security fears,' Jilani told reporters here.

December 29th, 2008 KARACHI - Pakistan will take a decision Friday on whether to send its hockey team to India for a quadrangular tournament, the country's sports minister Aftab Jilani said here Tuesday. Jilani told reporters that representatives of the sports ministry, foreign ministry and the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) will Friday sit together in Islamabad to take a decision over the issue.

December 26th, 2008 KARACHI - Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Saturday denied it has pulled out its team from a double-header in India, saying that it is still awaiting a word on the tour from the authorities. PHF secretary Asif Bajwa said that the federation is awaiting a reply from the Foreign Ministry on a request for a No Objection Certificate for the India tour.