Among families, more commonly the Asians, there is what one may call tradition or expectation that the children adopt the vocation of the parents. Sports are no exception.

It might sometimes be a disadvantage as many assume the younger one to be as proficient as his/her star parent/sibling right from the beginning.

There have been instances when the young sportspersons simply couldn’t sustain this pressure and quit.

Northern Ireland’s legendary footballer late George Best is for many in the same league as Pele or Maradona. When his kid brother Ian Best started playing football, he was all the time compared with his phenomenal brother. "When I was playing football, the first thing people would ask was, ‘where is George Best’s brother?’ Then I became the target man. I got fed up of people telling me that I didn’t play like my brother. I never intended to play like my brother, I played my own game and he played his,’" said the younger Best.

Due to this constant comparison to his famous brother, Ian Best was forced to quit playing at a young age, despite being a talented player.

Still, there are many examples of family successes in the sports arena. Pakistan can take pride in several great sporting clans. In squash, Hashim Khan’s seven British Open victories stood as a record for decades. He was immediately followed by his younger brother Azam Khan who won the title four times.

Roshan Khan was the British Open Champion in 1957 and his son Jahangir Khan won this title for a record 10 times.

In cricket, Pakistan’s Mohammad family is alone in producing four brothers who played Tests. For our country, Olympics virtually mean hockey -- all the three golds and as many silvers have arrived through this sport.  In addition, hockey has also contributed two of the four bronze medals won by Pakistan.

Pakistan’s hockey families at the Olympics make fascinating reading.

Father and Son: Mahmood-ul-Hasan (1948, 1952) and Ayaz Mahmood (1984).

Munir Dar (1956, 1960, 1964) and Tauqir Dar 1984).

Ghulam Rasool (1956, 1960) and Akhtar Rasool (1972, 1976).

K M Aslam (1952) and K M Junaid (1992) Saeed Anwar (1968, 1972) and Anjum Saeed (1992).

Col Zafar (1960) and Aamir Zafar (1988).

Brothers:

Abdul Hameed "Hamidi" (1948, 1952, 1956, 1960) and Abdul Rasheed Junior (1968, 1972, 1976).

Shahzada Khurram (1948) and Shahzada Shahrukh (1948).

Munir Dar (1956, 1960, 1964) and Tanvir Dar (1968, 1972).

Mohammad Amin (1956) and Khurshid Azam (1964).

Khurshid Aslam (1960) and Akhtar-ul-Islam (1972).’

Manzoor-ul-Hasan (1976) and Rasheed-ul-Hasan (1984).

Samiullah (1976) and Kalimullah (1984) Mohammad Sarwar (1996, 2000) and Mohammad Zubair (2008).

Father and Son: Pakistan‘s Olympic debut came at the 1948 Olympics. Though they were many people’s favourites for the title, they lost in the semi-final. They also lost the bronze medal match.

At the next Olympics in 1952, Pakistan again ended fourth. Mahmoodul Hasan was a member of both these unlucky sides. It must have been very disappointing for him to narrowly miss out on an Olympic medal, not once but twice.

His son made up for the father’s failure, and in a big way. Ayaz Mahmood was the centre half of Pakistan’ gold medal-winning side of 1984 Olympics.

K M Aslam also came empty handed from 1952 Olympics. His son Khawaja Junaid is a bronze medallist from the 1992 edition.

It was the other way round for one pair of father and son. Col Zafari is 1960’s gold medallist but Pakistan finished fifth in 1988 when his son Aamer Zafar was in the team.

Ghulam Rasool won silver at the 1956 Olympics and bettered it with the gold in the next edition (1960). Son Akhtar Rasool was also a silver medallist in his first appearance in 1972 but he was not as lucky as his father in the second outing, only a bronze in 1976.

Saeed Anwar also had a gold (1968) and a silver (1972). His son Anjum Saeed’s bronze in 1992 completed the complete set of the Olympic medals in the family cabinet.

Munir Dar (1960) and Taqueer Dar (1984) are the only Pakistani father and son to have Olympic golds. Munir was also decorated with silvers in 1956 and 1964.

Brothers: Brig Abdul Hameed Hameedi was a member of Pakistan’s 4th placed teams at 1948 and 1952 Olympics. When he became the captain, Pakistan won silver in 1956 (the country’s first-ever Olympic medal in any sport) and gold in 1960. Younger brother Abdul Rasheed Jr won gold (1968), silver (1972) and bronze (1976), when he was also the captain. Rasheed is the only Pakistani to have a complete set of Olympic medals. Hameedi and Rasheed are also the only brothers to captain Pakistan at the Olympics. Munir has one gold and two silvers, while Tanvir got one gold (1968) and one silver (1972).

Khursheed Aslam was part of 1960 Olympic gold medal winning team. His younger brother Akhtar ul Islam had to be content with silver in 1972.

Raja Amin and Khurshid Aslam won Olympic silver medals, in 1956 and 1964, respectively.

Two of Pakistan’s all-time greats Samiullah and Manzoorul Hassan, bronze medalllists in 1976, were unfortunate. Pakistan were almost everyone’s favourites for the gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. But Pakistan, along with several other countries, boycotted the 1980 Olympics. However, their younger brothers Kalimullah and Rasheedul Hasan won the gold at the 1984 Olympics.

Pakistan hockey’s first pair of siblings at the Olympics, Shahzada Khurram and Shahzada Shahrukh, were members of the fourth-placed side in 1948. The last pair of brothersMohammad Sarwar (1996, 2000) and Mohammad Zubair (2008)was also unsuccessful.

Most Decorated Family:

Dar Family has contributed to Pakistan’s all gold and silver medal wins.

Golds: Munir (1960), Tanvir, Munir;s brother, (1968) and Taqueer, Munir’s son, (1984).

Silvers: Munir (1956 & 1964), Tanvir (1972).