Former hockey stars, including Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) officials, praised the team’s second-place finish at the tournament and hoped that the achievement is a step forward towards the revival of the national sport’s lost glory.
The Greenshirts had not faced a European side for 18 months, but reached the final after 16 years, having last done so in 1998 in Lahore.
Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Arsalan Qadir and captain Muhammad Imran were the top-scorers for Pakistan; scoring four, three and two respectively.
“For us, this is like a gold medal because it’s been such a long time since we contested in the final of the Champions Trophy and especially after we were out of international hockey for a long time,” said Irfan. “Winning against India [in the semi-final] makes it even more special.”
Olympian and chief selector Islahuddin Siddiqui said a medal in the tournament was great news for the sport in the country. “It’s a step forward for the team,” Siddiqui told The Express Tribune. “They have shown that they have the ability to revive the glory of the past.”
However, Siddiqui also warned the team against complacency as the second-placed finish has increased the responsibilities on the team.
“It is good progress but we shouldn’t forget that other teams did a lot of experiments by including their young players,” he added. “Our target is the 2016 Rio Olympics and we have a tough qualification round.”
PHF secretary Rana Mujahid also termed the silver medal a huge achievement. “Pakistan lost the final against India at the Asian Games and finishing second at the tournament, which is a huge boost,” said Mujahid. “This team consists of junior players, who came under pressure in the group matches but recovered well in the knockout stages, which shows the team’s future is bright,” he added.
The head coach of the Pakistan Team, Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh, was also content with the results and added that he was happy to repeat the feat of 1998, when he also was the coach.
“It was their best performance in recent years,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune from India. “The best thing was that we adopted our old style of play, which is attacking hockey and our new plan - 9-11 - worked well against India.”
Germany win after seven years
The Olympic medallists lifted their 10th Champions Trophy after a gap of seven years, having last won in 2007 after edging out Australia 1-0 in the final at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Australia the winner of the last five editions won bronze with a 2-1 victory against hosts India in the third place play-off.
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Wishful thinking. One silver medal doesnt land you back on the map. Everyone hopes the greenshirts will get there but they have a long way to go. Also, lets not gloss over the team's display of indiscipline.
how in the heck did we get into the final, i watched all of Paks group games, they lost every single one. Thrashed by England, and lost to Australia too, i watched that game and Pak were atrocious throughout. Serious improvements needed. Good that we beat India though, but against Aus we were never looking like we would win throughout, we were thoroughly dominated. Thats a problem, and serious improvements are needed, consistency please.
No Indian Trolls? ?? I am genuinely surprised.
Brilliant! I hope the government will now take notice and give this badly neglected national sport the funding it needs. We have all the talent and there is no reason why Pakistan should not regain its past glory and become world hockey number one. Pakistan Paindabad.