Tuesday 26 / November / 2024
Muscat: The newly appointed Oman national hockey team coach K.K. Poonacha is hopeful of the Sultanate squad finishing among the top three in the forthcoming FIH Hockey World League Round 2 competition to be organised in Bangladesh in March.
The experienced Indian coach, who had in the past rendered his services to both Ahli-Sidab Club as well as Oman national team, was officially introduced as the head coach by Oman Hockey Association (OHA) vice-chairman Mohammed Al Amari during a press conference at the association headquarters on Sunday.
The conference, which was also attended by OHA General Secretary Dr. Khamis Al Rahbi, also saw former international and Ahli-Sidab star player Khalid Khalfan being presented as assistant coach and Pakistan’s Shakir Munir as the goalkeeping coach.
Poonacha, who coached Ahli-Sidab in the recent His Majesty’s Cup Hockey Championship, has already begun his third stint as Oman coach in right earnest by selecting probables for the first of the two domestic camps and chalking out a detailed training programme ahead of the March 4-12 tournament in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.
After announcing the 34-player probable list, Poonacha said: “The probables were selected based on their performances with their respective clubs in His Majesty’s Cup Hockey Championship. We will start with a primary training camp from January 10 to 26. During the camp, we will also play three friendly matches between January 20 and 25 against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) team from Pakistan.
“The team will then be reduced to 22 for the second domestic camp from February 5 to 15.”
Both the domestic camps will be organised at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, after which the team will be pruned to 18 players for the Bangladesh tournament.
Poonacha has also revealed that the OHA is planning to arrange another training camp either in India or Malaysia.
“If everything works out according to our plans, we will also be training in India or Malaysia between February 18 to March 1. During that camp, the team will also be playing five friendly matches against junior national teams of that country. After that we will be directly flying to Dhaka to take part in the HWL Round 2 competition,” he said.
Tough competition
The Dhaka tournament, one of the three Round 2 events, will be held from March 4 to 12. The other two will take place in Ireland and Trinidad and Tobago from March 11 to 19 and March 25-April 2 respectively.
In Dhaka, a total of eight teams will be vying for two direct places into the semifinals. Besides Oman and hosts Bangladesh, the other teams that will be in action are Canada, Egypt, China, Fiji, Ghana and Sri Lanka.
Speaking about the competition in Bangladesh, Poonacha said: “It is definitely going to be a tough tournament for us. We will be playing some of the very tough teams.
“Teams like Canada (12th in FIH rankings), China (18th) and Egypt (20th) are ranked higher than Oman (31st). Bangladesh (32nd) will be playing at home. So it is not going to be easy,” he said.
The coach, however, sounded confident of Oman achieving a top three place.
“The players we have called up are in good shape after having performed well with their clubs in His Majesty’s Cup. They are also physically strong and fitness wise they are good. They are good players, especially in the attack.
“Of course there are always areas we can improve like in defence. But we will work on those areas in the coming days.”
Speaking specifically about the main target in Dhaka, he said: “Our main target will be top three places. Besides the top two teams, two best third-placed teams (from three Round 2 events) will also qualify for the semifinals. And I believe this team can achieve that target.”
Poonacha said the team should also focus on the Asia Cup, which will also be hosted in Bangladesh.
“As we prepare for the HWL Round 2 we should also focus on the Asia Cup, which will be held in September at the same venue."
"The experience of preparing and taking part in the HWL Round 2 will also help us prepare well for the continental event,” he said.
Five goalkeepers
Meanwhile, Shakir Munir said the list of probables includes five goalkeepers.
“We have picked five goalkeepers for the camp. They are Gassan Al Hasani of Ahli-Sidab, Fahd Al Nofli of Al Nasr, Said Rashid Al Hasni of Seeb, Mahdi Al Atabi of Sohar and Amjad Abdullah Al Hosni of Bousher,” the goalkeepers trainer said.
“After the camp, we will be selecting three goalkeepers for the tournament,” Shakir Munir added while expressing the hope that the team will do well and achieve the desired results in Bangladesh.
Assistant coach Khalid Khalfan, meanwhile, said he is privileged to be given the opportunity to be on the national team coaching staff.
“I am very proud and privileged to be given this opportunity to be the assistant coach of the national team. I have already worked with Poonacha at Ali-Sidab Club. So this is another opportunity for me to learn and contribute to the success of the team,” the former international added.
The two FIH HWL semifinal rounds will take place in London and Johannesburg from June 15 to 25 and July 8 to 23 respectively, while India will host the finals from December 2 to 10.
Oman’s 34 probables: Gassan Al Ghareeb (goalkeeper), Aiman Abdullah Al Katheri, Hammad Salim Al Fazari, Salah Nasir Al Saadi, Abdullah Hamood Al Alawi, Khalid Juma Al Shuaibi, Ashraf Talib Al Nasri, Ammar Juma Al Shuaibi (all from Ahli-Sidab), Ahmed Sabil Al Balushi, Mohammed Amin Said, Younis Ghabish Al Nofali, Ahmed Said Al Noufali, Basim Khatir Rajab, Mohammed Hubais Al Shar, Sami Awadh Said Al Loun, Wail Hassan Sanjoor, Shahab Nahadh Abdulrasool, Fahad Khamis Al Nofli, Anwar Khamis Al Nofli (all from Al Nasr), Shafi Talib Ramadhan (Dhofar), Said Rashid Al Hasni (goalkeeper), Mahmood Salim Al Hosni, Motasim Abdulrehman, Marwan Abdulrahman, Qasim Moosa, Mohammed Hassan Al Lawati (all from Seeb), Mahdi Al Atabi (goalkeeper, Sohar), Omer Salim Al Nofli (Saham), Mohammed Abdullah Matooq (Salalah), Amjad Abdullah Al Hosni, Khalid Mubarak Al Batashi, Mohanna Nasir Al Hosni, Immaad Ayad Al Hosni and Ali Hammad Al Hosni (all from Bausher).
