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National hockey team has been announced for the upcoming Asian Games; Zeeshan Ashraf to be retained as the captain.The Pakistan Hockey Federation on Tuesday included veteran penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas in its Asian Games squad after the organising committee of the Guangzhou Games gave late clearance for his inclusion in the contingent. Announcing the 16-member squad for the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China from November 12-27, PHF selection committee retained defender Zeeshan Ashraf as the captain. Pakistan won its last of seven Asian titles in Beijing in 1990. They need to win the Asian title to gain direct entry to the London Olympics in 2012. Pakistan's Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel is confident his team will do well in the Asian Games. I am very sure that with the team we have got, we would be in a position to give India a befitting response, van den Heuvel said last week. Pakistan is placed in Group B of the ten-team Asian Games hockey competition along with arch-rivals India, Japan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong. Pool A comprises defending champions South Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Oman. The squad consists of Zeeshan Ashraf, Mohammad Imran, Salman Akbar, Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Irfan, Waseem Ahmad, Mohammad Rashid, Fareed Ahmad, Mohammad Tauseeq, Abdul Haseem Khan, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Shafqat Rasool, Mohammad Zubair, Waqas Sharif and Mohammad Rizwan.
