JEDDAH, 25 May — The Pakistani hockey team will face tough opposition when it undertakes a tour of Europe later this year, according to Olympian Manzoorul Hasan, a former national captain and coach.

Speaking to journalists at a dinner hosted in honor by Saudia Airlines’ Jamal Ahmed to celebrate the highly successful Haj operation, Manzoor, PIA’s station manager here, said he was surprised that of the three coaches assigned to the team, none was a defender or a goalkeeper.

“People talk of the defensive weakness of the team but the three coaches with the team are either half-backs or forwards. Shahbaz Senior and Hanif Khan are left-ins while Khwaja Junaid is a left-half. In fact all three are left-wing players,” Manzoor said.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation should look into this and appoint a defender or a goalkeeper as a coach, said Manzoor, a tough and reliable full back in his playing days.

The team was currently undergoing a rigorous training camp at the National Stadium in Karachi.

“The European tour will be tough but it will be good preparation for the team in view of the Champions Trophy which Pakistan will host in Lahore in November this year,” Manzoor said.

About the Haj operation, Manzoor said PIA had set several records this year, the most of important of which was the 96 percent punctuality record.

“The success was due to excellent team work and every member of the team knew what he was supposed to do and did his job well,” Manzoor said.

This year PIA carried 175,000 pilgrims by operating 451 flights from eight Pakistani cities — Karachi, Sukkur, Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad, Quetta, Islamabad and Peshawar. Pilgrims from India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh also traveled by PIA, in all 17,000 of them using scheduled flights.

“Top officials including the managing director took personal interest and supervised the Haj operation, and various departments cooperated to make it a success.

To maintain this performance, work has already begun for Haj 1422,” Manzoor said.