Can one imagine a modern-day Football World Cup in which there is no Brazil, Argentina or Germany? It’s almost unthinkable, in fact absurd.
The same way it once was to imagine a Hockey World Cup without Pakistan!
Pakistan hockey’s slump is not quite as dramatic or sudden as it now seems to be. It’s been a slow and painful decline that began when Pakistan not only lost the World Cup title in the 1986 World Cup in England but also came 11th in the 12-team-event.
Yet, it managed to bounce back a bit in the 1990s but by then the game was already vanishing from schools and colleges and it failed to get the kind of media and corporate attention that cricket had begun to attract.
Pakistan wins 1994 Hockey World Cup
So now if only a few school kids were playing hockey, from where did one expect new talent to emerge? It didn’t.
Whatever little that did was either not suited to quickly adopt the rapidly changing ways and pace of the game, or wasn’t given the kind of incentives to keep it interested in the game as a profession and not just a low-paying hobby or even national duty.
Pakistan hockey’s slow fall now seems complete. The game could just fade away (and it has), but the problem is, it is still officially Pakistan’s national sport.
Pakistan and India had become the world’s leading hockey sides, producing the most skilful set of players. Hockey in both the countries had also become expressions of passionate patriotism in which hockey players were expected to play the game as a foremost national duty and not as a cold profession.
During the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, the Pakistan side dribbled its way into its fourth consecutive Olympic hockey final where it defeated Australia 2-1 and in the process lifted its second Olympic hockey title. Pakistan had become the world’s number one hockey team and the most attractive in style and skill.
An edgy Pakistan hockey team arrived to participate in the 1972 Munich Olympics. It fought its way to enter the semi-finals where it was to face a resurgent Indian side. A siege mentality had gripped the country and it also made its way into the hockey squad.
The evening before the match, the Pakistan squad began to play (on an LP player) famous patriotic songs sung by Pakistani diva, Noor Jehan, that she had sung during the Pak-India wars of 1965 and 1971.
The idea was to not only play the songs to inspire the Pakistani players (against arch-rivals India) but to also unnerve the Indian players who were lodged in the same building.
In a tough, tight game, Pakistan managed to down India 2-0 and the millions in Pakistan listening to the commentary on their radio sets, erupted, pouring out onto the streets and shouting patriotic slogans. Bhutto immediately dispatched a passionate congratulatory message to the team.
All these incidents sound familiar, as Pakistan has recently knocked down India in Cricket Champions Trophy 2017 and brought the prestigious trophy home. All the players received heroic welcome with the nation ready to put them on their shoulders.
Pakistan won 3rd hockey world cup title (1982)
The same used to be the case with Hockey. Though the team had boycotted the 1980 Olympics, it revived its Olympic triumphs by reaching its 7th hockey Olympic finals, this time at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. It then went on to win its 3rd hockey Olympic title, defeating West Germany 2-1.
Pakistan hockey had reached dizzying heights, winning two World Cups, two Champions Trophy titles and one Olympic gold within a span of just six years (1978-84). That our Hockey history used to be!
Though cricket and squash too, were enjoying a rise in fame and success, hockey remained to be the country’s most popular and fruitful sport.
But trouble was brewing.
Cricket (with its promise of better financial rewards and glamour) was slowly replacing hockey in schools and colleges. And since much of the hockey was now being played on AstroTurf, Pakistan oddly had just two AstroTurf stadiums, despite the fact that it was the world’s number one side.
Hockey clubs in the country still played and trained their players on grass and these players struggled when they graduated to playing top level local tournaments on AstroTurf.
Hockey as a national sport has become a game of which the current cricket-crazy generation has very little knowledge of or interest in. In fact, most young Pakistanis today know the names of European club football players than they do for the current Pakistani hockey players!
A sport in which so much pride and passion was once invested and which became the honoured expression of a resilient nation, has sadly been allowed to just wither away.
Can one imagine a modern-day Football World Cup in which there is no Brazil, Argentina or Germany? It’s almost unthinkable, in fact absurd.
 |
| Pakistan wins 1994 Hockey World Cup |
|
| Pakistan won 3rd hockey world cup title (1982) |
Pakistan hockey had reached dizzying heights, winning two World Cups, two Champions Trophy titles and one Olympic gold within a span of just six years (1978-84). That our Hockey history used to be!
Though cricket and squash too, were enjoying a rise in fame and success, hockey remained to be the country’s most popular and fruitful sport.
But trouble was brewing.
Cricket (with its promise of better financial rewards and glamour) was slowly replacing hockey in schools and colleges. And since much of the hockey was now being played on AstroTurf, Pakistan oddly had just two AstroTurf stadiums, despite the fact that it was the world’s number one side.
Hockey clubs in the country still played and trained their players on grass and these players struggled when they graduated to playing top level local tournaments on AstroTurf.
Hockey as a national sport has become a game of which the current cricket-crazy generation has very little knowledge of or interest in. In fact, most young Pakistanis today know the names of European club football players than they do for the current Pakistani hockey players!
A sport in which so much pride and passion was once invested and which became the honoured expression of a resilient nation, has sadly been allowed to just wither away.
Comments
Post a Comment