By Ijaz Chaudhry
Hassan Akbar (left) & Asam Haider
The Under-18 Asia Hockey Cup is scheduled to take place in Kakamigahara, Japan, from May 29 to June 6. Pakistan Under-18 team captain Asam Haider and vice-captain Hassan Akbar both hail from Kot Radha Kishan. This small town, located in the Kasur district, has a population of approximately 150,000. There is only one hockey club, the city club.
The first player to wear the coveted green shirt from Kot Radha Kishan is Abdul Rahman, who debuted for the Pakistan Juniors in 2021 and later played for the national team in 2023 - 2024. Asam Haider is Abdul Rahman's younger brother.
Abdul Rahman was a product of the Lahore-based Dar Hockey Academy, Pakistan’s biggest reservoir of talent for more than a decade. Seeing big brother making rapid strides, Asam also joined Dar HA in 2022. He, too, made fast progress. Played for the Pakistan Juniors in the matches against the junior sides of Germany and Oman in early 2025. Later that year, he appeared for Pakistan in the Under -18 Asia Cup in the Chinese city of Dazhou. Pakistan finished second.
Likewise, his city mate, Hassan Akbar, has also been a student of the game in the Dar Hockey Academy since 2022. This Under-18 Asia Cup would be his first appearance in the national colours.
Both give a lot of credit to the Dar Hockey Academy, "the academy provides free board & lodging, playing kits and superb training on the synthetic turf".
The duo was part of the Customs team that won the national under-18 championships about a month ago. The victorious team’s eight members were from Dar Academy .
It is indeed a great honour for the town of Kot Radha Kishan as well as for the Dar Hockey Academy, as Asam Haider is the captain and Hassan Akbar is the vice captain of the Pakistan Under-18 team.
Ijaz Chaudhry writes on hockey & other sports. For more about him & his work, visit http://www.sportscorrespondent.info