Champions Trophy challenge

PHF needs to chalk out a sustainable financial plan & team will have to back that up with solid on-field performances

Regarded as the toughest field hockey tournament in the international calendar, the Champions Trophy gets underway in Bhubaneswar, India, today. Eight leading hockey nations are competing in the nine-day event, with Pakistan facing a formidable challenge as they face giants of the game and 13-time winners Australia, as well as England and Belgium in their pool. In the other pool, hosts India, Germany and the Netherlands are joined by Argentina. Pakistan, who introduced the event in 1978, have won the title three times, with the last win coming in a pulsating final in front of a partisan home crowd against Germany way back in 1994. A generation of players has since then failed to hold the trophy aloft. The national sport is, in fact, struggling to hold its feet with some of the performances in recent years easily being the worst in the 60-odd years of Pakistan hockey.

The relatively easy nature of the format this year ensures a quarter-final berth for all eight teams, with the group stage merely deciding their standings. The knock-out stage, however, will severely test the strengths of a new-look squad under coach Shahnaz Sheikh. Pakistan have had to deal with inadequate exposure at the highest level for some time now, apart from the fine showing at the Asian Games. They did not feature in this year’s World Cup after failing to secure a berth in the tournament and now have a few tough months ahead: besides the Champions Trophy, Pakistan have to go through the rigours of a qualifying round in order to secure a berth for the 2016 Olympics. Besides these on-field challenges, the Pakistan Hockey Federation is facing an acute shortage of funds, with little government assistance at its disposal. Participation in the Champions Trophy was only made possible with the help of private financiers. In the long run, the federation needs to chalk out a sustainable financial plan, and the national team will have to back that up with solid on-field performances — beginning with the Champions Trophy — if hockey is to remain a prominent sport in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th,  2014.

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