Pakistan hockey team will leave for England on July 12 and will set up a training camp in Cannock for around 12 days before moving to London for the Olympics 2012. In Cannock, they will play back-to-back games against the national team of Scotland on July 17 and 18 besides carrying out a series of training session. In London, they will meet Belgium on July 24 before a potentially explosive game against the Dutch on the 26th. Pakistan played against both these teams during their training tour of Europe last month. “The four practice games will prove our team with a series of perfect opportunities to warm up for the Olympics,” said Asif Bajwa, a former Olympian, while talking to The News International. Pakistan have retained Sohail Abbas as their captain for the London 2012 besides bringing back three senior players — Waseem Ahmed, Shakeel Abbasi and Rehan Butt in the national team. Pakistanis, who have not won an Olympic medal since claiming a bronze in Barcelona 1992, have been bracketed in Pool
A with world champions Australia, host England, Spain, Argentina and South Africa, The three-time former World Champion champions will jump in the Olympic hockey stadium with a game against Spain on July 30. On the other side, International Shooting Sport Federation has allocated a wild card for Pakistan enabling an entry for the shooting event in 2012 London Olympics. Four Pakistani shooters, Khurram Inam, Ahmed Sultan, Amin Karamat and Abdul Sattar obtained the Maximum Qualifying Scores (MQS) during the international competition. Khurram Inam, who represented Pakistan in 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics, scored 116/125 points during the ISSF World Shooting Championship held in Munich in 2011. Abdul Sattar of Pakistan Navy secured ninth spot in the skeet event, with a score of 119/125 in the Asian Shooting Championship held in Doha last year.
