By Ijaz Chaudhry
Gold Medallist Army Team
Pakistan's 35th National Games recently concluded in Karachi. Held with a lot of fanfare, in Karachi after 18 years, the athletes competed in 32 sports.
In Pakistan's national game hockey, Army defeated NAVY in the final to win the gold. WAPDA won the bronze.
All the three medal winning teams included Dar Hockey Academy's players.
The other team to feature boys from country's biggest hockey nursery was the Punjab, who fared better than any other provincial/regional side. In fact, the Punjab side drew with the eventual gold medallists Army in the pool match.
The victorious Army team's coach Awais is also an old graduate of Dar Hockey Academy, who recently switched to coaching after playing for army for several years.
Dar Hockey Academy Players at the 35th National Games
Army: Lieutenant Hassan, Zain Jani, Usman, Saifullah
NAVY: Abdullah, Waseem, Ansar Makha
WAPDA: Waqar Younis, Ali Aziz
Punjab: Adeel Latif, Faizan, Awais, Bilal Aslam, Ahmed
Ijaz Chaudhry writes on hockey & other sports. For more about him & his work, visit http://www.sportscorrespondent.info