Pakistan’s poor showing at Asiad hockey

ISLAMABAD: Thousand excuses are not worth a penny when you see a team having such a dazzling Asian Games history going down to a low ranked team without putting up a determine show.

Watching Pakistan losing to Japan and then manger Hasan Sardar’s hue and cry against umpiring was mere an effort to avoid criticism that usually comes with such a performance. It is hard to believe that Pakistan hockey has been dragged to a point where it finds it all that difficult to beat low ranked teams.

First Japan accounted for Pakistan in three-nation event in Oman almost six months back and now in Asian Games against all odds and even after losing to India 8-0 in a pool match, it surprised Pakistan in the semis. No matter what happens in bronze medal match against India, Pakistan hockey has lost a golden and easiest of opportunities to qualify for Tokyo Olympics to be held in two years time.

The eight times Asian Games gold medalists Pakistan now face a tough road to make it to the next Olympics. The complicated World Series Hockey procedure now awaits greenshirts for Olympic qualification. With so many fast improving teams around, Pakistan needs nothing less than a miracle to make it to the 12-team Olympic competition.

With India already out (beaten by Malaysia in first semis), Pakistan required a par performance to beat 16th ranked Japan and then Malaysia to not only win ninth gold in Asian Games but also to book a place in the Olympics.

Those who have watched the semis against Japan on the ground or on mini screen would vouch that Pakistan never looked a winning side in the competition. The first thirty minutes were completely dominated by Japan where the team also scored all that important goal. Pakistan were then left struggling for an equalizer that never came. After watching India losing to Malaysia in the first semis, Pakistan started the second semis with low key, not realizing that fact that in modern day hockey 60 minutes are meant for fast and furious hockey rather than adopting wait and see policy that was evident from Pakistan play in the first half. By the time coach Roelant Oltmans realized his mistake, it was already too late.

The greenshirts embarked on the Jakarta Asian Games campaign on the back of some sizzling performances in the event. After winning bronze in 2006 Games in Doha (Qatar), the team returned with gold medal from China in 2010 and then were beaten by India on sudden death penalty shoot out final in 2014 Games held in Korea.

All these months the media has been asked to wait for the Asian Games before unleashing their criticism. Even some of the officials gone to the level to doubt media’s nationalism not realizing that media has been bearing their administrative flaws one after the other in a hope to see Pakistan standing tall in hockey at international level.

The worst administrative lapses being the rapid changes in coaching staff during the last three years and not taking some of selectors into confidence before naming team for as important an event as Asian Games.

If one goes by the PHF official’s version, during the last three years the federation got richer by Rs 500 million (special grants from central and provincial governments), enough to run country’s hockey for three years. Prior to Brig (rtd) Sajjad Khokhar’s taking over, the PHF was financially struggling with Akhtar Rasool and Rana Mujahid led federation were not being given a single penny of special grant (by federal government) to run the affairs. Still the team performance was of high class. After a long time Pakistan won silver in Asian Games in 2014, months later Pakistan won silver in Champions Trophy. Even before that in Qasim Zia and Asif Bajwa’s era, Pakistan won gold in Asiad and bronze in 2012 Champions Trophy held in Australia besides winning the Asian Champions Trophy. So to say that Pakistani players do not have the required potential to excel at international level holds no value or worth. What has gone wrong during the last three years where Pakistan finished last in Champions Trophy and failed to make it to the final of the Asian Games was the inconsistent policies having no vision, targets and believe on your charges.