Pak-World XI 2nd hockey match today

LAHORE: The boys in green would be fighting to maintain its pride and honour in the second match of the two-match rubber going to played today (Sunday) at the National Hockey Stadium.

Having lost the first match of the series, meant to revive not only international sport in the country but also build passion and develop attraction among the youngsters towards the national sport, the team would be firing all cylinders.

In the first match played at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Stadium Karachi, Pakistan lost 1-5 to a team that comprises former but shimmering stars from Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Argentine, and Pakistan.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) followed Pakistan Cricket Board to lay a base for the revival of international sport in the country by inviting the foreign hockey stars. But it failed to attract the crowd seen following cricket.

After inviting the World XI, the foremost challenge the PHF would be facing would be to fill the stands of the National Hockey Stadium, that would see international match played here after around two decades.

To lure and entertain general public, which would have bought tickets of Rs 250, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, the PHF has arranged music gathering as Battle of the Bands at 12 noon after the gates will be opened at 11.00am while the match will start at 2.00pm followed by the Prize Distribution and Closing Ceremony at around 04.00 to 05.00pm.

“Tickets are available at different outlets of the TCS and they will also be available on the Match Day outside the stadium,” said a PHF spokesman. Tickets demand for this hockey match is different as of cricket. General public is more crazy about cricket than hockey now, the reason being the constant failure of the national sport at every level around the globe.

He said tickets price have been fixed keeping in view the purchasing power of the masses in order to attract crowds to witness the matches.

“The tour of World XI is very significant to revive international hockey in Pakistan,” he said, adding “we expect big gatherings as international hockey returns to Pakistan after a long gap.”

The PHF has seen several change of hands over the years but all of them have failed to lift the sport to the level it used to be and even none of them have developed a structure that would automatically weed out talent for the national team. Australian Grant Schubert has gold medals from all the big events: Olympics, World Cup and Commonwealth Games. Three Dutch players have Olympic as well as European Championship medals. The 19-year-old Hidde Turkstra took part in the 2016 Olympics. Likewise, two Spaniards have Olympic silver and European gold in their trophy cabinet. Phil Burrows is New Zealand’s all-time top field goal scorer. Two star players from China will add Asian flavor.

With just two days visit the Dutch short corner specialist identified one of the greatest loop holes in Pakistan hockey. Hockey legend Floris Jan Bovelander suggested that a proper infrastructure and system should be developed for Pakistani players to improve the quality of the sport here.

Bovelander said that reluctance to adopt changes in hockey is one of the reasons for the decline of the sport in Pakistan.

“Pakistan played same style of hockey. India noticed it 10 years ago and they are building their game for 10 years now. They picked up and they are back again. Pakistan should do the same, it will take a couple of years,” he said.

On their arrival in the city on Saturday morning from Karachi both the teams were escorted by a heavy contingent of Army, rangers and police to their hotels and in the evening the teams were given a reception at Garrison club by Corps Commander Lahore.

Teams:

Pakistan: Waqar Younis, Adil Rao, Rizwan Ali, Rehan Butt, Moin Shakil, Adeel Latif, Junaid Manzoor, Shahzeb Khan, Ghazanfar Ali, Afraz Hakeem, Umair Sattar, Naved Alam, Adil Rao, Amjad Ali, Owais Arshad, Rana Waheed, Ahmed Nadeem, M Illiyas, Waqar Ali, Zakiullah and Ibrahim.

The World-XI: Roderick Weusthof, Rob Reckers, Philip Muelenbroek, Benjamin Wess, Grant Schubert, Hidde Turkstra, Phil Burrows, legendary Pakistani drag flicker Sohail Abbas will also play for the World XI.