BREDA, Holland – Pakistan will take on Australia in Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy 2018 in Netherlands, today (Sunday).
The match is scheduled to start at 7pm. In two other matches, India will meet Argentina while Netherlands will face Belgium. On Saturday, India beat Pakistan by 4-0 in the tournament opener.
Pakistan won the inaugural edition of the Champions Trophy held in Lahore in 1978 when they beat Australia in the final.
Four years later, Pakistan picked up their second title beating West Germany in Karachi. The last time Pakistan picked up the Champions Trophy title was in 1994 in Lahore, when they beat Germany (7–6) on penalty strokes.
Not only do Pakistan have three titles under their belt, they have finished as runner-up seven times in the tournament in 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, and 2014.
On the other hand, the best India have fared in the tournament was the runners-up finish at the 2016 event in London, losing to Australia in a shoot-out.
Six teams are taking part in this year’s tournament, which is the last edition of Champions Trophy. The tournament will be replaced by the Hockey Pro League (HPL) in 2019.
Apart from hosts the Netherlands, Australia, Argentina, Belgium, India and Pakistan are taking part in the tournament from June 23 to July 1.
Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy 2018
M Rizwan Sr (captain), Imran Butt, Amjad Ali, M Irfan Sr, Mubashir Ali, Aleem Bilal, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Touseeq Arshad, Rashid Mahmood, Tasawar Abbas, Abu Bakar, M Irfan Jr, Arslan Qadir, Umar Bhutta, Shafqat Rasool, Ali Shan, Azfar Yaqoob and Aijaz Ahmed.
Captain Muhammad Rizwan Sr is one of the eight players to have surpassed the 100 international appearances milestone, while Shafqat Rasool is the most capped player in the group with 190 senior international appearances.
