News for 10 April 2019
All the news for Wednesday 10 April 2019
Indian hockey team looking to put turbulent past in rear-view mirror with appointment of Australian Graham Reid as head coach
Sundeep Misra
File image of Graham Reid. AFP
It’s time to hope again.
It’s that time of the year again when Indian hockey has announced a new coach – Australia’s much-decorated player and trainer, Graham Reid. Yet, so much of Reid’s appointment feels like a film caught on a rewind button. In the general chaos of Indian hockey where coaches change like seasons, many in the camp at Bengaluru will be hoping that Reid sustains. For players and fans, it was an appointment they wished would happen. Not only because of what Reid brings in as a former player and coach but that in an Indian set-up and structure, Reid’s style of play would ensure continuity.
Looking at numbers, in terms of coaches appointed in the last decade, Graham comes in at No.13. Now that list has a few interim coaches, the in-betweens too. The big names were Jose Brasa, at the start of the decade and then Roelant Oltmans, Terry Walsh, Paul van Ass before finishing off 2018 with Harendra Singh. To give the decade that sharp edge and an Olympic spot in Tokyo and aspiring for a podium finish, Graham Reid’s appointment does make you believe the right card had been picked.
At the recently concluded Azlan Shah, India played with an interim coach in the form of the High-Performance Director David John. There were times when the team peaked in certain moments of the league matches but in that final, a win that could have started off the year well, they faltered. Not because they didn’t know what to do. But because they didn’t know when and how to do it. Korea, with a team that should have been in an old-age home, saw us off quarter by quarter. They held their luck, showed resilience and understood our mind-set to finally overcome us in the shoot-out. Into that scenario steps in Graham Reid. Into a team of highly skilled players but whose minds are not their own. The Indian team has seen so many coaches that words like style, stability, continuity, durability don’t mean a thing. In a way, it’s also got easier to blame the coaches and not take responsibility as a team; the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the World Cup being key examples.
In an interview to PTI, Graham Reid spoke about stability. “What I want is a stable environment for me as well as the players,” Reid said.
“I think Graham ticks all the boxes,” says Ric Charlesworth, himself an Aussie legend as player and coach. Graham Reid was Ric’s assistant coach when Australia won the 2014 World Cup. “India decided for a change and they needed someone experienced. I feel Reid offers all that. He is assertive, knows what’s happening internationally and is very much in touch.”
It’s an important year for Indian hockey. The team needs to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Not getting there would be a huge setback. The pressure is equally on the players as it will be on the coach. Last year, 2018, was to be the big year for Indian hockey. But failures at the Asian Games and then the World Cup stalled a lot of plans. Qualifying directly would have given time to prepare. Now the team not only needs to qualify from their group (Hockey Series Finals, Bhubaneswar) but also wait for the opponent who they take on in a play-off. It’s not easy.
“He will do the job. He has the capability. He has delivered. He did slip up at Rio. But because he is good, the Dutch picked him up. He is very competent and understands the requirements of the job. He would be on the top of my list,” says Ric.
India is a challenge. Not only because of the insecurity of the job. But that every player comes in with a varied skill set and a playing pattern that needs to be brought to parity with the existing team players and the new coach’s philosophy. And then the change in play-patterns and different views of the coaches doesn’t make it easy. Pessimism, doubts, lack of confidence and a certain bitterness in the system surrounds the players. A present player who didn’t want to be named said, “It’s okay for the coaches as they will change to a different team. But we also yearn for continuity. Does anyone realise how tough it is to work with a new coach every year? It’s a matter of trust.”
Indian hockey will be looking towards building up that trust in its team through Graham Reid. Ric believes that is one of the bigger challenges facing Reid. “It’s the insecurity that bothers the professional coaches. He needs a good programme that will help him with the players and bring them under one roof. And Hockey India should give him the resources to achieve whatever has been spelt out.”
Ric thinks the players will have confidence in Reid. “They know who he is and once they interact with him, the confidence in his ability will show.”
The former Australian World Cup-winning player and coach believes Reid is a good fit for Indian hockey. “The biggest challenge, however, will be the expectations from India. It’s always very high. He has the experience of training teams for the World Cup and the Olympic Games. The road to Tokyo, despite India not playing the Pro League will not be that tough.”
Ric said Reid had spoken to him about one day coaching India. “It was a while ago probably at the World Cup, I don’t remember. But I did tell him to go for it.”
At the recently concluded Azlan Shah, Japanese coach Siegfried Aikman compared the frequent change of coaches to: “It’s a merry go round. No? The King is dead. Long live the King. How do you deal with this? Every time you restart. It makes it more and more difficult.”
At the same time, Aikman likens Indian hockey to Barcelona and Real Madrid. “Every coach wants a shot at Barcelona and Real Madrid. Every coach believes they will do it. They know India’s skill. Some of the world’s most talented players are here. And every coach coming in, believes he won’t fail. Each of us believe we won’t be fired.”
Reid in his interview to PTI said, “When every coach starts his career, he has that secret desire to coach India someday and I am no exception. I love the way India play.”
It’s a good start point for Reid. He has to be that binding force for a team that has taken more knocks than medals. Swallowed more insults than received accolades. Graham Reid, the player and coach would, however, know winning would always be the perfect balm for years of hurt and under-achievement.
Firstpost
Kieran Govers gets down to business
The Australian says he is excited to return to India, a hockey-crazy country
Big boost: Kieran Govers’ presence will help the Indians prepare for the 2020 Olympic Qualifiers.
Former Australian striker Kieran Govers has joined the Indian men’s hockey camp as part of the team’s preparations for the 2020 Olympic Qualifiers.
Govers, who was part of the Australian team that won the World Cup in 2010 and 2014, arrived at the SAI on Monday, when the camp commenced. The 31-year-old is conducting an eight-day training programme for the team’s forwards, with a view to improving their efficiency and finishing.
“I am truly excited to return to India. I have some really fond memories of playing in this hockey-crazy country,” Govers said here on Tuesday. “I have been following the Indian team's progress very closely and I believe they have great potential.
“In the next few days I will be working with the forwards to see how we can improve their efficiency inside the circle and how we can convert when the opponents’ marking is tight. We will also be doing some video analysis from the recent Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to dissect where the strikers could have done better. The whole idea is to help improve the conversion rate.”
Learn from him
The presence of Govers would help the Indian team ahead of the FIH Men’s Series Finals, to be held in Bhubaneswar in June, felt S.V. Sunil.
“His experience will immensely help our forwards. He was one of the best strikers for Australia and he is extremely good in pressing, goal-scoring and positioning inside the circle. These are the areas our team needs improvement and there are many good things we can learn from him,” the veteran striker from Karnataka said.
Govers will be working with as many as 17 forwards, who are all part of the 60-member senior men’s National camp.
The Hindu
A lot more to come from young Kirandeep
By Jugjet Singh
Kirandeep Kaur (left, in white) is being touted as one to watch for the future by national women’s hockey squad coach K. Dharmaraj, after her impressive displays in the ongoing Five-Test Series against World No 9 ranked India at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil. Malaysia play India in the Fourth Test tomorrow (Wednesday). (PIC BY MAHZIR MAT ISA)
KUALA LUMPUR: The ongoing Five-Test Series against India has unearthed two prized gems for the national women’s hockey squad, one who is just 16-years-old yet plays solidly while showing glimpses of being a future great, and the other a 30-year-old experienced penalty corner flicker who just gets better with age.
Teenager Kirandeep Kaur has blossomed into a versatile player after only a year of being given her big break on the international stage by coach K. Dharmaraj, while penalty corner flicker Nuraini Rashid has finally found her niche, and should be a dependable source for goals over the next five years or so.
“When I gave Kirandeep her big break (to play in the World League in Singapore and the Indonesia Asian Games), many felt she was just too young. But just look at her now, playing in her own right in the ongoing Test Series against India, she is just as good as any of the Kaur’s in their team (India),” said Dharmaraj.
It was with an eye on the future which convinced Dharmaraj to field the then 15-year-old in last year’s Indonesia Asian Games.
“She is one to watch for the future of Malaysian hockey, not my future as a coach. Any coach who takes over the national women’s hockey team after I retire will benefit from such a fine player as her (Kirandeep), who I believe will have a long and illustrious career in the sport,” said Dharmaraj.
Kirandeep was initially a shy and reserved player during the Asian Games, but in the Tests, she has come out of her shell and scored Malaysia’s first goal after two matches, while also inspiring a spirited comeback which took Malaysia from 0-2 down to 4-2 up before finally holding mighty India to a 4-4 draw.
Just for the record, India are ranked World No 9, while Malaysia on the other hand are 13 places down at World No22.
“Kirandeep is no longer a ‘2-3 minute field player’, she is now a solid regular in midfield and attack.
“This shows just how much she has progressed since the Asian Games,” said Dharmaraj.
And Dharmaraj also heaped praise on penalty corner flicker Nuraini, noting that she is only getting even better and stronger with age.
“Nuraini is an amazing player who is actually getting much stronger with age. At 30 she is flicking even harder and after a coaching session with Dutch penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema in Kuantan recently, she is more confident and scored two amazing goals on Monday (April 8).”
“I believe she too will be a prized asset for the team for at least another five years,” said Dharmaraj.
Taekema, a former world class flicker, will be back again in a week’s time before the men’s FIH Series Finals from April 26 to May 4 in Kuala Lumpur, and Nuraini will be able to train and further hone her flicking skills with Taekema once again.
The Fourth Test against India takes place tomorrow (Wednesday) at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
New Straits Times
China threat looms large
By Jugjet Singh
National coach Roelant Oltmans said China did not even play in the Indonesia Asian Games (last August) but showed that they were no pushovers in the World Cup a few months later. (PIC BY EFFENDY RASHID)
KUALA LUMPUR: China could spring a surprise in the FIH Series Finals in Bukit Jalil on April 26-May 4 following their decent performance in last year’s Bhubaneswar World Cup.
The World No 14 unexpectedly finished 10th in the World Cup, five spots above Malaysia.
In the Series Finals, also a pre-Olympic qualifier, World No 13 Malaysia will face China, Brazil and Italy in Group B.
Canada, Austria, Wales and Belarus make up Group A.
National coach Roelant Oltmans said China did not even play in the Indonesia Asian Games (last August) but showed that they were no pushovers in the World Cup a few months later.
“I am aware of China’s rise and have been keeping them in mind. In fact, I already have a plan on how to stop them in Bukit Jalil,” said Oltmans.
In the World Cup, China drew with England (2-2) and Ireland (1-1) to qualify for the next round. However, their campaign ended following an 11-0 thrashing by Australia.
China have not played international matches since their assignment in Bhubaneswar. They also declined Malaysia’s invitation to play in the recent Azlan Shah Cup.
“Matches against China have always been close and I expect the same (in the Series Finals),” said Oltmans.
In their last meeting (2017 Hockey League — Round Two in Dhaka), Malaysia edged China 5-3 on shootout following a 2-2 draw.
And while the focus is on China to top Group B, Italy should not be taken lightly.
In Kakamigahara (2008 Olympic qualifier), a confident Malaysia were held 4-4 by the Italians.
However, Brazil should be a breeze for Oltmans’ side.
New Straits Times
Decorated Umpire Don Prior Announces Officiating Retirement
Ben Somerford
Hockey Australia today congratulates Hall of Fame inductee Don Prior following his decision to retire as an international Hockey official.
Prior retires as the best credentialed umpire produced by Australian hockey, having officiated as an umpire at four Olympic Games (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000), four World Cups (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998) and four Champions Trophies (1985, 1986, 1990, 1993).
He umpired three major gold medal matches, two Olympic finals (1988, 1996), as well as the 1994 World Cup final in Sydney.
Prior’s international umpiring career spanned 18 years, earning an FIH Golden Whistle Award in 1996 for officiating 100 international matches.
He most recently worked as an Umpire Manager, including at three more World Cups (2002 (Women’s), 2006, 2010) and two Champions Trophies (2003, 2007).
Prior also developed the worldwide performance analysis system Sportscode which was a major innovation in the game.
He also worked with the FIH in the preparation of the technology for the third umpire system.
In 2015, Prior’s significant contribution to Australian and international Hockey was recognised with his inclusion into Hockey Australia’s Hall of Fame.
Hockey Australia media release
Garcia Cuenca hoping to sign off with dream run to FINAL4
©: Frank Uijlenbroek / World Sport Pics
Real Club de Polo coach Carlos Garcia Cuenca is hoping to sign off his EHL history with the Barcelona club with a FINAL4 spot following a series of near misses in recent seasons.
He has coached the club to a wealth of trophies during his seven-year tenure as coach but will step down in the summer and he hopes to finish on a high.
Garcia Cuenca will be replaced by another highly decorated coach, Roger Pallarols who oversaw Atletic Terrassa’s run to the FINAL4 and is current boss of Junior FC, helping them reach their highest level of performance in recent times.
For Polo, they have already won the Copa del Rey this season and are well set to top the regular season table in Spain, leaving the EHL a very clear focus.
Last year, they agonisingly missed out on the FINAL4 in a shoot-out to Herakles; the year before a 2-1 KO8 loss to eventual champions Rot-Weiss Koln; in 2016 it was a 2-1 defeat to AH&BC Amsterdam.
“For us, it would be a dream come true to proceed to the FINAL4 because this is the last objective we have not achieved,” Garcia Cuenca told the EHL website.
“For the team and for the staff it would be a magical moment and a great reward in European Hockey.”
Domestically, once again, they have been going well with Xavi Lleonart returning to the club after an inspirational year with Bloemendaal, winning the EHL in 2018 with a player of the match GRAND FINAL performance, and Roc Oliva a big signing from Atletic Terrassa.
“We have to try to not only compete, but to triumph and we are conscious of the difficulties we may face. But we are delighted with the team´s performance so far; the guys are very confident about this year and everybody wants a magical farewell!
“It was our fifth cup win in seven years [in March] and seven finals in seven years in what is the toughest competition in Spain with three top matches in a KO system.
“For us, it is a special tournament and one of the main objectives in the year. In the regular league, we are in the top on table with just a few games to play.
“It is very important because everyone knows this is our last year with Polo club and winning the regular season is another main objective for the staff; it is the first way to qualify for EHL next year.”
They have done so while carrying a number of injuries in the first half of the season but all look to have cleared up except for Tomás Terradas who suffered a serious knee injury from February.
But Garcia Cuenca is wary of the big challenge they face from Royal Leopold in the KO16 and pegs Polo as the underdogs.
“We think the Belgian team is the favourite for this game and we know they have players who are top level. The Belgian league is currently superior to the Spanish league, especially in terms of speed and rhythm of competition and this is the biggest handicap for us.
“They are the main reasons that our team has not gotten to the FINAL4 for the past three years. We know the main characteristics of Leopold and we are working hard to try to minimize these threats and looking to surprise them with a different performance.
“I think it is very important for us to start the game in a perfect mental state. We know that we cannot commit important mistakes in the first minutes and we have to adapt to the speed and rhythm of the game as soon as possible.”
** Real Club de Polo face Royal Leopold on April 18 at 15.00 (CET); tickets available on www.ehlhockey.tv/tickets
Euro Hockey League media release
Women’s Hockey Hit Stride At Perfect Moment
Trinity's hockey are two victories away from an immediate return to the top tier of Irish club hockey.
Muireann Nic Corcráin
Photo by Ivan Rakhmanin
The first season back in Leinster Division 1 for Dublin University Ladies Hockey Club (DULHC) has been dreamlike. The camaraderie within the team, as well as the stellar coaching of Brian Scully, has helped them push through tough encounters both at home and away. All of this has added up to an undefeated season in the league and a Division 1 title in the bag.
In an email statement to The University Times, coach Brian Scully is clearly ecstatic with his team’s performances to date. “It has been a very tight league and in reality very little separated ourselves, Monkstown and Corinthian”, he says. “Perhaps we were able to play close to our best in the matches against these sides – winning two and drawing two – and this gave us the edge over our rivals. It was very pleasing to be able to perform so well in those games.”
This edge was at its most apparent last week when Trinity beat league rivals Monkstown away from home to claim the Division 1 title. Despite throwing everything at Trinity, the women in green and black seemed able to absorb the pressure easily enough and punished the home side on the counter-attack. Scully sees this game as the standout moment of the season: “I was confident as I felt, at our best, we would be very difficult to beat in the game.”
“The fact that we scored twice in the first half really worked in our favour and we just had to manage the game from that point onwards – which the girls did extremely well.”
In an email statement to The University Times, joint captain Ailish Long mirrors Scully’s enthusiasm about their performances against the biggest teams. “I think we knew we always had a good chance, but not by a significant margin”, she says. “Monkstown and Corinthians have both been very good opponents this year and I think we did well to come out on top of two very good teams.”
It’s hard to overstate the significance of Trinity’s league victory, particularly given the gut punch of last season’s relegation. Scully mentions how disappointed the team were following their defeat in the EYHL playoffs: “We felt we competed well last season to not be relegated automatically but we did not perform to a good enough level in the play-off and were relegated – such is life at top-level sport.”
“This was difficult to take”, he adds, “because our general level of play was much higher than we demonstrated in that game. Had we played close to our potential, we feel we would have won the match”.
For DULHC, then, the goal from the outset of this season was promotion. Supremacy in the Leinster League, while an end in itself, was not the ultimate goal. Trinity knew it was through the EYHL 2 that they could secure an immediate return to the top table of Irish club hockey, and there they have also delivered a superb campaign that has seen them finish second in their group, conceding the fewest goals along the way, and make sure of a playoff spot.
On Saturday, DULHC won their last game of the EYHL 2 group stages 1-0 against Greenfields, the cherry on top of what has been a successful campaign in the competition that saw them finish second, behind Queen’s University Belfast. Following this win, the focus turns to the impending semi-finals, which will see Trinity take on Catholic Institute from Limerick on April 27th.
If they qualify for the final and beat the winner of the other semi-final – either Monkstown or Queen’s University Belfast – then automatic promotion occurs. If they lose in the final they will be forced into a play off against whoever finishes second last in the EYHL, which will be one of Ards or Muckross.
Scully is aware of how talented Catholic Institute are, but has a deep-rooted confidence in his team: “We fully believe that our best performance will be good enough to beat any of those sides, so it is a matter of preparing as well as we can over the next few weeks and ensuring we play close to our potential.”
DULHC’s biggest problem, however, may not be of their own making. Long informs me that “the playoff weekend falls right in the middle of our exams. We have 6 players out of our starting 11 with an exam on Saturday 27th april, including myself, our goalie and 2 sports scholars. While this isn’t ideal, we are confident we can find our way around it and make it to the final on the Sunday”.
A league win, a spot in the EYHL play-offs and a total of 86 goals scored since the season began represents an amazing comeback after the sucker punch of relegation. Trinity’s chance to regain their place in the EYHL is two games away. There is no doubt that all eyes will be on them going into exam season.
The University Times
Hockey aims for clean sheet when it comes to drugs
The good news is that FIH is recognised by the World Anti Doping Authority (WADA) as one of the top sporting Federations when it comes to anti-doping education and prevention. The not unsurprising news is that the FIH team behind anti-doping wants to keep it that way.
“We are in a very good position as we have very few adverse analytical findings, with just a handful of positive tests over many, many years,” says Jon Wyatt, FIH Sport Director. “We want keep the barriers as high as we possibly can and make sure that the deterrents are greater than the incentives to cheat.”
The advent of the high profile FIH Pro League, and continual drive to keep hockey clean, has driven an evolution in the FIH anti-doping programme. With the Pro League comes prize money and enhanced public profiles for hockey’s top athletes. Wyatt and his team are aware of this increased incentive for results and performances, so they have been working with WADA on ways to continually improve the way things are done.
The introduction of these improvements coincide with WADA’s Play True Day on 10 April, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of clean sport among athletes and sports fans across the world.
WADA’s Director General Olivier Niggli said: “I wish to acknowledge and thank the FIH for participating in Play True Day. Every year, more countries and sports organizations join the campaign and are helping to turn Play True Day into a truly global event! This worldwide momentum shows how together, we can create a world where the clean athlete prevails and where athletes choose to stay clean out of self-respect, fairness to their fellow competitors, and for the pure joy that sport brings.”
One thing that won’t change is the highly commended athlete education system. It is a mandatory requirement that every athlete that participates in an FIH event completes an online anti-doping module devised by WADA. Prior to each event, the athletes and team managers have to confirm they have completed the module within the past two years.
The big changes, being implemented now, are around the frequency of testing and the way out-of-competition testing is carried out.
“This year, we are increasing the number of in-competition tests by more than 50 per cent” explains Wyatt.
"I wish to acknowledge and thank the FIH for participating in Play True Day. Every year, more countries and sports organizations join the campaign and are helping to turn Play True Day into a truly global event!"
- Olivier Niggli, Director General, WADA
And because the Pro League covers a six month period, the window during which athletes can be tested is significantly greater than in previous years. Testing at competitions such as a World Cup or Champions Trophy took place over a two week period, whereas now the athletes playing in the Pro League can be tested at any point between January and June.
The out of competition programme is also being improved, with the previous Registered Testing Pool programme (originally devised for individual sports) now being replaced by a more appropriate Team Testing protocol. This has the benefit of not only focussing on targeted individuals within a team, but this new protocol also raises the deterrent for all national squad athletes as any of them can be tested out of competition throughout the year.
Under the new WADA-approved procedure, the responsibility for providing whereabouts information for national squads will now lie with the team managers and NADO officers can be sent to test athletes within a squad at any time.
In one further move designed to demonstrate to athletes and the wider community how much effort goes into ensuring hockey remains a clean sport, there will be face to face anti-doping education delivered at a number of FIH events in 2019. At the FIH Series Finals in Malaysia and Japan, FIH and the local NADO (National Anti-Doping Organisation) will be hosting an education booth for athletes to ask questions about anti-doping procedures. Then at the FIH Pro League Grand Final in the Netherlands at the end of June, there will be an information booth to demonstrate the athlete anti-doping education programme to the public. Quizzes, games and activities will be used to engage with hockey fans and explain anti-doping procedures.
As Wyatt says: “We are proud of our position as one of the top federations for anti-doping and we want to remain at the top when it comes to being a clean sport.”
#PlayTrueDay
FIH site
50 Years Back, Pakistan had Two World Class Teams
By Ijaz Chaudry
Manzoor Hussain Atif - Great Planner
These days, in Pakistan hockey, there are constant complaints about the lack of talent, no suitable replacements for the ageing players; pool of players has shrunk etc.
Back in the glory days, it was altogether different. In fact, most of the time, the abundance of talent meant that selectors were spoilt for the choice.
It is perhaps best epitomized by the appearance of not one but two Pakistani teams at a high profile tournament in Lahore exactly half a century back.
The International Hockey Tournament staged at the Lahore (now Gaddafi) Stadium in the spring of 1969 featured 10 teams including two from the hosts Pakistan.
Only a few months back, Pakistan had won the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. They did it style, winning all the nine matches.
Instead of basking in the glory of game’s highest prize, the hierarchy of the PHF immediately sat down to plan for the future.
The PHF president was none other than Air Marshal Nur Khan, easily the most successful sports administrator in country’s history- for some in the world. He was ably supported by another genius in Manzoor Hussain Atif, the manager of Pakistan team at the 1968 Olympics, later secretary PHF.
The PHF decided to field two Pakistan teams in the Lahore tourney.
The federation didn’t bank upon the players already on the radar.
In a revolutionary step, M.H.Atif announced open trials which were conducted at the Punjab University ground, Lahore. No less than 600 players from across the length and breadth of the country turned up. In the first phase around 200 players were shortlisted. After a couple of more trials, the number was trimmed to 66, six for each position, who were called for the training camp at what is now Gaddafi Stadium.
Finally, the two Pakistan teams were announced.
In those days, substitutions were not allowed. The teams had to end the match with the starting XI. If a player left the ground during the match due to some injury, the team had to make do with 10 players.
Hence, it was a sagacious decision by M.H.Atif, the camp commandant, to induct the reserves of Pakistan’s first string i.e. other than the first choice XI, into Pakistan’s junior team. They included FazalurRahman, Anwar Shah, Farooq Khan and Laeeq. Rest of the junior squad comprised of some fringe players, who had made occasional international appearances, and out of the talent unearthed during the trials. The reserves for the two sides also consisted mostly of the raw talent.
10 teams participated at the event including hosts’ two sides. All these nations had appeared at the 1968 Olympics. Only India, Holland and New Zealand were missing from the top 11 finishers at the Olympics.
People thronged the stadium- hockey was a national obsession at the time. The world no 1 Pakistan’s senior side easily went past all the four opponents in its pool.
However, it was Pakistan juniors who really heartened the locals. In the very first match, they defeated Kenya. The East Africans were a strong hockey nation of that era. At the 1971 World Cup, Kenya went on to finish fourth, losing both the semifinal and the 3rd position play off only in extra time. The juniors also won against Germany and France. In their last pool match, they came across Australia, the world no 2, who had narrowly lost to Pakistan at the Mexico Olympics final. Spurred on by a big crowd, Pakistan juniors downed Australia 2-0.
The two Pakistan teams, won their respective semifinals by an identical score of 2-0.
Though there was not much at stake in the final, it produced a very good contest to the delight of around 30,000 spectators.
The match went to the wire. Only in the dying minutes, a miscommunication between the juniors’ goal keeper and a full back presented Khalid Mahmood, Pakistan’s captain a chance to score the match winning goal.
Pakistan’s supremacy of the hockey world had been confirmed.
Moreover, quite a few players emerged who later served Pakistan hockey well.
Islahuddin had made the 1967 tour to East Africa but only made a few appearances. At the Lahore event, he emerged as a star, top scoring for the juniors. Islah, who played as centre forward/inside right later emerged as one of the greatest right wingers in the history of the game and remained an automatic Pakistan selection for a decade. He also captained Pakistan during that memorable year of 1978 when the green shirts won World Cup, Asian Games and Champions Trophy.
It was fullback AkhtarulIslam’s maiden appearance. He carved out a permanent place in Pakistan’s hockey folklore by scoring the winning goal in the final of the inaugural World Cup in 1971.
A jewel was found in the shape of Shahnaz Sheikh. He played at left out but later also figured as left-in and centre forward as per Pakistan’s needs. Shahnaz remained one of the most feared forwards in the world throughout the 70s.
“I owe my breakthrough to the open trials conducted by late Brigadier M.H.Atif”, says Shahnaz I was yet to appear in the nationals; had only played a few domestic events. Even for the selection in the zonal sides for the national championships, one needed some strong lobby. But the open trials provided me with a platform to showcase my abilities. During the camp also, M.H.Atif worked hard especially on the new boys. The juniors played matches against the seniors. Atif also juggled the players of the two teams. Sometimes half lines were exchanged. This made juniors confident that they could compete against any side.”
All this paid dividends. Pakistan completed the grand slam by adding the World Cup (1971) and Asian Games (1970) titles to the Olympic gold.
In long term, quite a few among the newcomers, such as Islah and Shahnaz, starred in Pakistan’s glories throughout the ‘70s: Pakistan won two World Cups, all the three Asian Games and were unlucky to miss out on Olympic golds at the 1972 (silver) and 1976 (bronze) and 1975 World Cup (silver).
It was the vision and dedication of Air Marshal Nur Khan and Brigadier M.H.Atif- the great achievers.
Unfortunately, today we don’t have anyone comparable at the PHF. There are only leeches who come out with all sorts of excuses after every failure of the national team.
XIs in the Final:
Pakistan: Goalkeeper: Salahuddin, Fullbacks: Tanvir Dar & Riazuddin. Halfbacks: Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Riaz & Gulraiz Forwards: Khalid Mahmood (captain), Ashfaq, Rasheed Jr, Asad Malik & Jehangir Butt
Pakistan Juniors: Akhtar Gillani. AkhtarulIslam & Aslam. Anwar Shah,Naseeb & FazalurRahmam (captain). Farooq Khan, Athar, Islahuddin, Laeeq and Shahnaz
Ijaz Chaudhry writes on hockey & other sports. For more about him and his work, visit: www.sportscorrespondent.info
Fieldhockey.com
Ex-Olympians urge PM Imran to sack current PHF regime
Mohammad Yaqoob
LAHORE: Ten former hockey Olympians have jointly appealed to Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to sack the current regime of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and spare some time to sort out the hockey affairs by announcing measures to rescue Pakistan hockey from complete disaster.
Prominent Olympians including Tariq Aziz, Manzoor Junior, Hanif Khan, Col. (retd.) Mudassar Asghar, Khawaja Junaid, Khalid Bashir, Wasim Feroze, Saleem Nazim, Navid Alam and Muhammad Saqlain addressed a sizeable gathering at a seminar held at the Lahore Press Club here on Monday under the auspices of the Olympians Forum.
President of the Lahore Press Club Arshad Ansari also welcomed all the guests, especially who came from Karachi for a noble cause of saving the game of hockey which Pakistan had ruled for several decades in the past. Karachi Hockey Association president Junaid Ali Shah and secretary Haider Hussain, whose affiliation has been cancelled by the PHF, also addressed on the occasion.
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The Olympians, in their short speeches expressed their concern over the shambolic state of the national game and urged the PM for his immediate attention to hockey affairs. Big banners and slogans were displayed across the seminar hall against the current regime of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) headed by Brig. (retd.) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar and secretary Shahbaz Ahmad Senior.
Some of the banners demanded the arrest of four top officials of the PHF by NAB while the other banners also carried slogans such as ‘Who has tried to bribe the auditors sent by the federal government for the forensic audits of the PHF’s accounts’ and ‘Where have 100 crores of the PHF gone’ or ‘Appeal to PM Imran Khan to sack PHF officials’.
Though the speeches made by the majority of Olympians were not as strongly-worded as the slogans displayed in the hall, they were unanimous in their call of getting rid of the current regime at PHF. A number of speakers also suggested solutions and quick remedies to rescue the game.
Tariq Aziz, a member of Pakistan team which won the second gold medal at the Olympics for Pakistan in 1968, said the situation today is alarming for which nepotism, lack of merit in decision-making and corruption were the main reasons. “The trend in the PHF of awarding key posts to its critics to win their favour is also one of the reasons behind the collapse of the game,” he said.
Mudassar, who also worked as secretary PHF in the 90s, said though the situation was really bad, there was no reason to lose hope as Pakistan could still raise a strong team in two or three years if honest people were put at the helm. He reminded that in 1986 Pakistan finished 11th in the World Cup but, thanks to some able people at the helm at the time, Pakistani bounced back to bag a silver medal in World Cup 1990 and then won the World Cup in 1994. He lamented that the current PHF officials had done nothing for the Pakistan hockey in their long tenure and had only filled up their pockets and kept their seats in tact.
Manzoor Junior, captain of Pakistan team which last won the Olympics gold in 1984, said the players and officials of the past era had always considered hockey as their pride and worshiped the game. He claimed that future of Pakistan could be bright if honest people with merit and expertise were made in charge of the game. “The current PHF officials have no ability to control the decline. I appeal to the Prime Minister to take immediate action against the current officials of the PHF for the betterment of the game,” he said.
Legendary Olympian Hanif Khan said that in his first meeting with PHF president and secretary in Karachi, he had asked him to bring improvement at the grassroots level. “But they turned a deaf ear to my advice and now the infrastructure has been destroyed which is a shame.” He alleged the current regime raised parallel bodies at district levels just to get favourable vote.
Hanif lamented that said PHF president Khalid Khokhar should have taken measures to improve the game and should not have relied on Shahbaz who is a very cunning person and have destroyed the game.
Salim Nazim said the situation was hopeless and he endorsed all the banners displayed in the hall. He asked the prime minister, where his vision of “say no to corruption” had gone. He pointed out that a delegation of Olympians had met federal sports minister Fahmida Mirza some two months who had ordered a forensic audit of the PHF accounts. “But sadly, no progress has been made on it so far.”
Khalid Bashir said the PHF officials were not professional. He said they came in the PHF on the recommendation of former federal minister Ahsan Iqbal, who had closed relation with Brig. Khalid. “Due to Ahsan’s recommendation the previous government gave lot of funds to the PHF which were misused,” he alleged. He said Shahbaz Sr had destroyed the sport and named four key officials of the PHF including Brig. Khalid, Shahbaz, Ikhlaq Usmani as treasurer and Adnan Shahid as accountant of the PHF who should be put behind the bars.
Khawaja Juniad said in the current tenure Pakistan was ousted from World League because lack of funds. He said the federation had no plan, no road map how to resurrect the game.
Navid Alam alleged that the PHF president and secretary had lost the confidence of the Congress as they both could not bag even 44 votes from a total of house of 144. He said the president PHF had allotted key posts among his own relatives. He admitted that the former Olympians were also responsible for the state of the game today
Wasim Feroze, Muhammad Saqlain and Junaid Ali Shah also spoke on the occasion and criticised the current PHF regime.
Later a joint resolution was passed, appealing to the government to sack the current PHF officials and to bring back those who enjoyed good reputation and had a better vision to put the game back on right track.
Dawn