The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Pakistan to honour four former Indian Olympians

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 20, 2004

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Sport - Hockey

Pakistan to honour four former Indian Olympians

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19. India's World Cup-winning captain Ajitpal Singh and former Olympian-turned-selectors B.P. Govinda, Aslam Sher Khan and Surinder Singh Sodhi will be felicitated during Indian hockey team's tour of Pakistan next week.

Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and its Pakistan counterpart have decided to felicitate four former players from each country during the eight-match home-and-away series.

``Pakistan Hockey Federation had sought the names and we decided to honour former Olympians Ajitpal Singh, Govinda, Aslam Sher Khan and Surinder Singh Sodhi along with the hockey side,'' IHF secretary K. Jothikumaran told UNI.

Meanwhile, PHF has also forwarded the names of four former players, Mr Jothikumaran informed.

``They have sent the names of Jahangir Butt, Islahuddin Siddiqi, Akhtar Rasool and Hassan Sardar who will accompnay the Pakistan team when they arrive here for the second leg of the series,'' he added.

Change in schedule

The Indian team will arrive a day before the schedule. According to the new schedule, the visitors would reach Karachi on Sept. 22 to play the first match at the Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP) stadium on Sept. 24, a Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) spokesman in Lahore said.

After four matches here, Pakistan would visit India on a reciprocal tour to play the rest four of the eight-match series there.

The PHF officials attributed the change in the schedule to the visitors' request to get some practice before the first match.

Quetta will host the second match on Sept. 27, followed by Peshawar (Sept. 28) and Lahore (Oct. 1). — UNI

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