Pakistan Hockey Team

Pakistan hockey team has defeated World Champions Germany by 2-1 in the first quarter final of the FIH (Federation of International Hockey) Champions Trophy at the State Netball Hockey Centre in Melbourne, Australia, qualifying for Semi-Final of the grand event for the first time since 2004.

In the backdrop of three goals in as many outings and almost a dozen misses, Pakistan coaches worked all morning Tuesday to make players realize their mistakes. Both the goals by Pakistan were scored by centre forward Shakeel Abbasi.

Germany took the initial lead as German captain Mo Fuerste gives Germany the 1-0 lead nine minutes into action. Pakistan did not manage to put the ball into the nets during the first half until Abbasi strikes two back to back goals for Pakistan in the second half.

The Green-Shirts missed several chances, including three penalty corners, to better the scoreline but held on to beat the much higher placed opponents. This was Pakistan’s only second win in the tournament, after losing against Australia and Netherlands but won against Belgium to ensure a quarterfinal spot.

Earlier, Germany came from behind on Monday to upset India in the last Pool-A match. German coach Markus Weise was all praise for the Pakistan team when he talked to the reporters here at the State Netball Centre

The Champions Trophy Hockey is witnessing the quarter-final stage for the very first time. The format has been changed to keep teams’ interest alive. Besides a place in the semis, the victory over Germany has included Pakistan directly into next year’s Champions Trophy.

In another quarter-final on Thursday, Australia will be looking to beat England to keep themselves on the road for the record thirteenth Champions Trophy title. Pakistan will play winner either Netherland or New Zealand in the grand Final.


History

Hockey was originally brought to Pakistan under British rule, and like cricket soon became popular with the local population.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation came into being in 1948, following the independence and partition into Pakistan and India. Prior to this, players from what is now Pakistan had competed internationally alongside players from what is now India. In the beginning, the Federation's membership included the Provincial Hockey/Sports Associations of West Punjab, East Bengal, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bahawalpur & Services Sports Board. Pakistan played their first international in London when they defeated Belgium 2-1 in 14th Olympic Games hockey tournament on 2 August 1948.

The first President of PHF was Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan with Baseer Ali Sheikh as Honorary Secretary. The Pakistan national side soon established a strong reputation in international competition, helping to maintain interest in the game in Pakistan which assisted the growth of the Federation. However, no full-time central office or secretariat, as such, was established until the 1960s.

The office of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, located in Gaddafi Cricket Stadium, Lahore, was developed into a Secretariat in 1971. It was during the second term as president of Air Marshal M. Nur Khan from 1978 that Pakistani hockey entered something of a golden age. National Senior, National Junior and Women Hockey Teams were all competing internationally, increasing the work load of PHF Office and secretary Brigadier M.H.Atif tremendously.

On the personal initiative of Air Marshal M. Nur Khan, the FIH introduced the World Cup Tournament and the Champions Trophy Tournament, which are now rated amongst the major international tournaments, alongside the Olympics. At this time, Pakistan held all the major titles in men's international hockey.

However, the 1976 Olympics in Montreal had seen the introduction of artificial turf to international hockey competition. Pakistan was unable to build as many of the new pitches as the European nations or Australia and New Zealand and so the strength of the national side declined. It was after a lapse of 12 years that the Pakistan Hockey Team again started climbing and won the Champions Trophy and the World Cup with Air Vice Marshal Farooq Umar as president and Colonel Mudassar as secretary of the Federation.