News for 27 December 2015
All the news for Sunday 27 December 2015
Irshad slams first hat-trick as National Hockey begins amid fanfare
Anwar Zuberi
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister’s XI scored 2-0 victory over Sindh Governor’s XI in an exhibition match that marked the formal inauguration of the 62nd National Hockey Championship at the newly laid desso turf of the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium on Friday.
Kashif Jawwad scored both the goals for the winners in the 18th and 38thminutes respectively.
Both the teams comprised former stalwarts of the yore who have won laurels to the nation and a couple of local players. Red carpet was unrolled and the stadium that has befittingly organised Champions’ Trophies, Asia Cup and Indo-Pakistan series matches among others during the golden era of game, was decorated with colourful balloons. The naval band was also in attendance. Though the stadium gives a fascinating look, a lot of work is still required to be done.
Additional chief secretary Sindh, Ajaz Ali Khan, who took personal interest in installation of the synthetic pitch at the HCP Stadium, declared the championship open in place of the Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who could not make it due to his pressing engagements.
Earlier, the additional chief secretary unveiled the plaque of the new synthetic turf at the entrance of the stadium.
The president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, secretary ex-Olympian Shahbaz Ahmed, secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Sindh Mohammad Rashid, tournament director Qamar Ibrahim, member PHF selection committee Waseem Feroz, noted veteran Olympians Samiullah and Jahangir Butt, squash wizard Jahangir Khan, cricketers Sadiq Mohammad and Moin Khan, veteran athlete Mohammad Talib, secretary Sindh Hockey Association Shahid Ali Khan and secretary of Karachi Hockey Association Farooq Khan were prominent among others who were present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, the organisers have revised the draws following withdrawal of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) at the eleventh hour leaving 19 teams in fray. Now pool C will have four teams instead of five. The other three pools that include five teams apiece remained unchanged.
Three matches were played on the opening day instead of four as the match between Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Port Qasim Authority (PQA) was advanced to the next day.
Pakistan Steel thrashed thrashed Islamabad 5-0 in the first match played at the HCP Stadium on Saturday.
Sultan Ashraf scored twice off penalty corners. Tauseef Ahmed also netted twice while M. Imran completed the tally.
Babar Hussain shone with four goals, including a hat-trick, second of the event, as Navy outplayed Balochistan 8-0 in another one-sided match. This was latter’s second defeat in as many days. Asad Aziz (PC), Ali Sher (PC), Kamran Asif and M. Asif Ali scored one goal apiece.
Abbas Hayder hogged limelight by slamming a hat-trick as Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) gave a lesson to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registering an emphatic 7-0 victory.
Other scorers were Zeeshan Bokhari, Rizwan Ali, Yasir Shabbar and Kashif Shah (PC).
In yet another onbe-sided match, Port Qasim Authority (PQA) notched up 5-0 victory over Higher Education Commission (HEC).
M. Zubair Riaz scored twice, one off penalty corner, while Shakeel Abbasi, M. Atif and M. Salman shared the remaining goals.
Irshad slammed first hat-trick of the event as former champions Customs outplayed Islamabad 8-0 at Islahuddin-Dr. M. A. Shah Academy.
Irshad scored three goals in a span of 14-minutes in 43rd (PC), 53rd and 57th minutes. Rizwan, M. Jawaid, Haseem Khan, Abid Butt and Faisal Rasheed netted one goal apiece.
In the second match played at the same venue, Railways sent Sndh packing 5-1 with all he goals coming in the last two quarters.
Captain Mohammad Usman and Mohsin Jawaid struck once off penalty corners in the 45th and 50th minutes respectively while Mohammad Haleem (15th), M. Nawaz (49th) and Ahmed Nadeem (59th) scored once each. Taimoor scored the consolation goal for Sindh in the 48thminute.
Balochistan stunned Police 4-1 in the only match played at the HCP Stadium. The winners scored one goal in each quarter.
Asfandyar opened the account for Balochistan in the eighth minute but Policemen drew level through captain Waqas in the 17th minute. Mazhar Ali made it 2-1 in the 23rd minute. Imran enhanced the team’s lead to 3-1 in the 44th minute while Waqas scored his second goal off PC in the 52nd minute to seal the fate.
Sunday’s fixtures:
PIA v Railways at 9.30am, Customs v Steel Mills at 11.30am, PQA v Sindh at 1.30pm, National Bank of Pakistan v Navy at 3.30pm. (All matches will be played at the HCP Stadium).
Dawn
Shahbaz vows to bring transparency in PHF affairs
LAHORE - Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Shahbaz Ahmed Senior Saturday said that he would bring transparency not only in the affairs of the federation but ensure that its impact must reach at the grassroots level as well.
Earlier, both Shahbaz Ahmed Senior and M Akhlaq Usmani were unanimously elected as PHF secretary and treasurer respectively.
Shahbaz and Akhlaq were nominated by PHF president Brig (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar after taking vote of confidence from the PHF congress in Islamabad in August this year.
Both were required to take vote of confidence from the congress which was mandatory according to the PHF constitution.
The congress met at a local hotel here on Saturday in which Baluchistan Hockey Association (BHA) president Nawabzada Lashkar Raisani presented a resolution showing full confidence on Shahbaz as secretary and Akhlaq as honorary treasure of the PHF.
The representatives from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh endorsed the resolution unanimously.
The congress, however, did not endorse the constitution of the PHF drafted by the previous management and constituted a constitutional committee headed by Shahbaz Senior.
The secretaries of four provincial hockey associations will be members of the committee which will draft a new constitution of the PHF in line with the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
The new constitution will be presented before the executive board of the PHF for approval.
The congress also approved the establishments of national hockey academies in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi where upcoming hockey talent would be groomed for national and international competitions.
Thanking to the congress members for their confidence and trust, Shahbaz said he would take all stakeholders on board to run the affairs of domestic hockey from the grassroots levels to the top.
He said he would welcome suggestions from all hockey lovers to put the national game on the right track.
“After three national academies, two more academies will also be established at Peshawar and Quetta, besides, a goalkeeper academy will be also established very soon,” Shahbaz concluded.
The Nation
All-year-round hockey competitions start next year
by S. Ramaguru
The Razak Cup hockey match between Perak (in yellow) and Terengganu early this month. - The STAR Filepic
KUALA LUMPUR: The coming local hockey season will see a major change with year-round competitions for the men and women.
Two domestic meets will be added to the calendar and a change of format in the Razak Cup will see the tournament extended between four to five months compared to the normal one-week duration.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) competitions committee chairman George Koshy said: “Our objective is to ensure that our players remain active all year and to give the younger players the platform to gain experience.
“And all these tournaments for the men will be replicated for the women’s game (their Razak Cup version will be known as the RNA Cup) as well.
“We want our affiliates to produce more players and not just depend on the national players for every tournament.
“As such, we have extended the duration of the Razak Cup. The matches will go on even if the national players are unable to play. We will allow the teams to register a bigger pool of players.
The competitions committee also plan to revive the Tun Hussein Onn Cup and introduce an Inter-State Champions League tournament.
The Tun Hussein Onn Cup was discontinued in 1987. Then, it was organised immediately after Razak Cup with the top five finishers playing against three foreign teams.
“We will revive the Tun Hussein Onn Cup, but the format will be different. We are planning to make it into a knockout event involving only local sides,” said George.
The Inter-State Champions League will see the participation of all the state league champions.
Each affiliate will be given a RM50,000 grant to hold a league in their state. The champions of all the states will then gather and compete in the national-level Champions League.
“The states must organise their leagues in the early part of the year. And each state must have at least 10 teams in its league to be eligible for the RM50,000 grant,” said George.
The Malaysian Junior Hockey League (MJHL) will kick off the MHC’s season next year. It will begin on Jan 15 with 30 participating teams.
“The competitions committee will make a final decision on the format next week,” said George.
The Star of Malaysia
