Azlan Shah Cup Squads Are In: Pakistan’s 18 Led by Abu Bakar Mahmood, Australia Name Two Debutants
Nine days out, and the picture’s finally complete. All six squads are now confirmed for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, and there’s plenty to chew on.
Pakistan’s 18 are led by Abu Bakar Mahmood, who keeps the captaincy after taking it from long-serving skipper Ammad Butt earlier this year. Butt’s still in the squad, which matters. You’ve got the new captain and the old one in the same dressing room, and that experience counts for a lot in a tournament like this.
The group is a familiar one. Waqar Ali and Ali Raza are the two goalkeepers. Muhammad Abdullah, Sufyan Khan, Moin Shakeel, Waheed Rana, Hannan Shahid and Zikriya Hayat are all there. Arshad Liaqat, Adeel Latif, Ahmad Nadeem, Ghazanfar Ali, Muhammad Hammadudin, Abdul Rehman, Umar Mustafa and Muhammad Ammad round it out. It’s the same core that was named for the World Cup earlier this year, trimmed to 18, and it means this side won’t need time to get to know each other. They’ve been through camps together, including the joint senior-junior camp in Islamabad that’s been running this month under national coach Daniel Berry.
Pakistan open against Canada on Friday 20 November at 5:15pm local time, 2:15pm PKT. Then it’s the USA on Saturday, Australia on Monday 23 November, South Korea on Tuesday 24 November, and hosts Malaysia on Wednesday 26 November. The final’s on Saturday 28 November. No easy games in there, but that’s the point of this tournament. Pakistan finished runners-up at the Sultan of Johor Cup last month, losing the final to Malaysia on a shootout, and they’ll want to go one better in Ipoh.
Australia are bringing the next wave
The Kookaburras have named two debutants, and both of them earned it. Matthew Hawthorne from Queensland and Duncan Jackson from Victoria get their first senior call-ups. Jackson was player of the tournament and top scorer at this year’s under-21 nationals, so he’s not here to make up the numbers.
Eight members of the World Cup squad return, including co-captain Tim Howard, Nathan Ephraums, Lachlan Sharp and goalkeeper Jed Snowden. Anand Gupte shares the captaincy with Howard. Five players come from the Talent Accelerator 2032 group, which tells you where Hockey Australia’s head is at. This is their first hit-out since the World Cup, and it’s a warm-up for the Pro League season. Australia have won this tournament ten times, most recently in 2018. They don’t come to Ipoh to take part.
The hosts have gone big. Malaysia named 20 players, led by captain Marhan Jalil, with Fitri Saari, Faizal Saari and Azrai Abu Kamal all in there. Azrai was man of the match in the bronze-medal win over South Korea at the Asian Champions Trophy last week, and Malaysia will be buzzing after that. They open against South Korea on Friday night in front of their own crowd. That’s a tasty way to start.
South Korea’s 18 are captained by Kim Hyeong-jin. Canada’s 18 are led by Matthew Sarmento. And the USA, in Ipoh for the very first time, are captained by Aki Käppeler. The Americans open the whole tournament against Australia on Friday at 3:00pm local, 12:00pm PKT. Welcome to the Azlan Shah Cup.
The week ahead
Round robin runs 20 to 26 November, with the fifth-place game, bronze and final all on Saturday 28 November. The final’s at 8:00pm local, 5:00pm PKT. Admission is free, so the Azlan Shah Stadium should be packed for the big nights.
For our money, Australia are still the team to beat, but this is the most open Azlan Shah Cup in years. Malaysia at home with a medal behind them, Pakistan with a settled squad and a point to prove, Korea always dangerous, and a USA side with nothing to lose. Nine days to go. It’s going to be a good one.
