Champions warmly welcomed on returning home

Lahore: Director General Sports Punjab Usman Anwar received national hockey team that won the silver medal in the just-concluded Champions Trophy, at National Hockey Stadium here on Tuesday.

DG SBP met with all the players and congratulated them on winning silver medal in the 35^th edition of Champions Trophy played at Bhubaneswar, India. He praised the young national hockey team particularly for their aggressive performance against arch-rivals India.

Talking to players, DG SBP said that Pakistan hockey team offered reasonable performance in the mega event despite limited international exposure. “It’s best performance in the given circumstances. Our team can display much better hockey if they got chances to play against international teams at the home grounds,” he added.

Usman Anwar acknowledged the performance of Pakistan players saying that the silver medal is a proof of their hard work they did prior to the grand event.

“Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif is paying special attention to sports particularly hockey and the Punjab govt will continue to patron hockey in the future as well”.

DG SBP told the players that Sports Board Punjab will try its best to solve their problems as early as possible. He expressed his hope that national hockey team will offer even better performance in the next international events.