New Zealand in, Pakistan out of Punjab Gold Cup

NEW DELHI: Slamming the door on Pakistan, the ad-hoc committee for Indian hockey on Friday said New Zealand has confirmed their participation in the Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament to be held in Chandigarh from January 31.
    
Co-convenor of ad-hoc committee Rajiv Mehta said that they have received a communication late on Thursday from Hockey New Zealand, saying they would be more than willing to send their national team for the four-nation event.
    
"New Zealand has confirmed their participation in the Punjab Gold Cup and they have already sent their team list," Mehta said.
    
The 22-member Kiwi team including four officials will reach here on January 29 en route to Chandigarh. Pakistan was supposed to join Beijing Olympic gold medallist Germany, the Netherlands and host India for the tournament before the Mumbai terror attacks strained Indo-Pak sporting ties.
    
Even though Pakistan Hockey Federation was keen to send a team for the tournament, they decided to leave the final decision to the Foreign Office there.  The ad-hoc committee here insists Pakistan neither conveyed their willingness nor their inability to participate in the event.
   
"We didn't get any official confirmation from Pakistan," ad-hoc committee Media Adviser Anupam Gulati said.