Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will host its 30th edition in Malaysia and the tournament will be held from May 4th to May 11th in which six teams including Pakistan will participate.
PHF Secretary-General Haider Hussain confirmed that the six teams that will participate in the event are New Zealand, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Pakistan, and Canada.
The tournament will return after a year hiatus after the tournament was postponed last year due to a packed schedule in the hockey calendar and this time Malaysia will defend their title as they won the tournament in 2022.
Out of the six teams, New Zealand is the only side that has qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 and is one of the favorites to win the prestigious tournament.
Pakistan will play its first match against Malaysia on May 4th while the second match will be against South Korea on May 5th.
The men in green will lock horns with the mighty Japan on May 7th and they are ranked 16th in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) rankings.
Pakistan will then clash with Canada on May 8th and their final game will be against New Zealand on May 10th.
Apart from the hosts Malaysia which has made 30 appearances in the tournament throughout history, the Shaheens and South Korea have competed in the tournament the most number of times (22 appearances).
In the last edition Pakistan finished 4th in the group stage and qualified for the bronze medal game against Japan, it will be interesting to see whether they can better their performance from the last edition.
In the 2022 edition of the Azlan Shah Cup, Pakistan won the bronze medal in the event for the first time in 11 years and has bagged the gold medal three times since the tournament’s inception in 1983.
Here is Pakistan’s schedule:
| Date | Match |
| 4 May | Malaysia vs Pakistan |
| 5 May | Â South Korea vs Pakistan |
| 7 May | Japan vs Pakistan |
| 8 May | Canada vs Pakistan |
| 10 May | New Zealand vs Pakistan |
