Sports Desk:

The Bangladesh Hockey Federation has altered its preparatory plans for the upcoming Under-21 Hockey World Cup, shifting their training tour from Pakistan to Malaysia. The tournament will begin on November 28 in India.

Federation General Secretary Lt Col (retd) Riazul Hasan confirmed the change, assuring that the move would not disrupt their preparations since both Pakistan and Malaysia have competitive squads of the same age group.

“We were initially planning to visit Pakistan. But we are not going to Pakistan as the Pakistan Hockey Federation has other plans. Bangladesh will play at least four matches with the U-21 team of Malaysia in the last week of this month. As Pakistan and Malaysia have a similar age group, there will be no problem in preparation,” the General Secretary said.

Looking ahead, Riazul Hasan revealed that discussions are also underway for a potential European tour by late October, with negotiations ongoing with three countries. He noted that the team has already been in training for over a month.

“Europe is very professional and organized. They also have many standards. Despite that, discussions are ongoing with Switzerland and Austria. I hope to finalize it by the end of this month. There will be an attempt to play a few matches there, too, with our national team or club,” Riazul Hasan concluded.