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FORMER Pakistani Olympic stars will set foot on Bahraini soil when they step on to the turf at the forthcoming Bahrain Open Hockey 7s tournament to be staged at St Christopher’s Junior School in Saar on Friday.
The players, former captain Waseem Ahmad and Nasir Ahmed, representing Waseem Hockey Club team from Pakistan will keep their opponents on their toes, said Bahrain Hockey Association (BHA) official Jude D’Souza. Joining them will be Kashif Ali and Farooq Ahmed who have represented Pakistan at the junior and senior levels.
Four other teams from the GCC and five from Bahrain are all set to battle it out for top honours in the Bahrain Open Hockey 7s, sponsored by GAC.
The one-day league-cum-knockout tournament, which begins at 9am, includes two teams from Kuwait and one each from the UAE and Qatar.
The draw, which was also attended by other BHA officials, was held at the Indian Club on Sunday where the teams were divided into two pools. The top four from each will make it into the knockout round.
The luck of the draw saw four of the Bahraini teams in the same pool, which ensures that at least three home teams will enter the knockout stages, ensuring that their supporters will have something to shout about.
D’Souza added that two top professional referees from India – Stephen Pereira and Arthur Castellino – who were in Bahrain for the 1st Bahrain Open Rink Hockey Tournament, will be among those officiating this weekend. They will also be conducting a refereeing workshop on Thursday evening.
The event, which will be played under patronage of Bahrain Olympic Committee general secretary Shaikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalifa, is co-sponsored by GulfWeekly, Mathias Tourism, Royal Bahrain Hospital, Magnum Travel Services, Writer Relocations, Shoe Mart, Alosra, Kia, Sixt, BFC, Udrive, Inventhouse, Virgin, Sign Inn and Coca Cola.
The matches will be 10 minutes each half with a two-minute break in between.
