LAHORE: Pakistan`s junior hockey team captain Abdul Hanan Shahid said on Thursday his side was fully prepared for the upcoming Junior World Cup, stressing his side would be relying on their penalty corner specialistsin their questforglory.

The FIH Junior World Cup begins in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur from Dec 5 and Pakistan are due to depart for the tournament on Friday.

`We`ve played four tournaments and seven players have also featured for the senior team in international events so I`d say we`re well-prepared, with good match experience under our belts,` Hanan told Dawn after the team`s evening practice session at the National Hockey Stadium on Thursday.

`Despite the fact that we`re drawn in atough pool alongside Holland, Belgium and New Zealand, who are among the top ten teams in the world, we`re ready to face any team.

Pakistan open their campaign in Pool `D` against Holland, the native country of their coach Roelant Oltmans, on Dec 6 before facing Belgium a day later. Their last match of the group stage is against New Zealand on Dec 9.

Hanan said that advancing to the quarter-finals by finishing among the top two in their group `would brighten our chances`.

Qualification could well come down to the last match against New Zealand and Hanan said his side knew they will be facing a side `which has a similar physical playing style to Australia`.

Hanan admitted Pakistan would be looking to capitalise on their penalty-corner skills during the tournament. `Penalty corner specialists Sufyan Ahmed and ArbazAhmed are both in good form and they would be our trump cards,` he said.

Pakistan booked their place at the World Cup after reaching the final of the Junior Asia Cup in Oman earlier this year, which they lost to India.

Last month, they finished fourth at the Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia, having been beaten by India in the third-place match.

Hanan pointed out that their penalty corner conversion had propelled them to the latter stages of the event in Johor Bahru. `Our conversion ration was 50 percent, far better than any other team.

Oltmans joined the training camp last week and Hanan said the Dutchman`s arrival had helped the team do some special drills.`Even when he wasn`t here, he`d set a training plan which we were following,` added Hanan. `There is no communication gap between him and the players.