‘Beautiful green team’ flies again to revive national game

Critics, supporters join chorus to celebrate memorable triumph in hockey at Asian Games.

KARACHI: As Pakistan hockey emerged victorious in the Asian Games, the words of coach Michel van den Heuvel, who was handed the task of bringing the team back to winning ways, formed a stunning background to the victory celebrations.

“As a child, I thought the Pakistan players fly and now that I’m their coach, I want to see this beautiful green team fly again,” he said in his first media appearance after joining the Pakistan team in June. The coach, during the same discussion, also labelled a gold medal in China his first target as it accompanied a direct berth for the 2012 London Olympics, the main task given to the former Dutch coach.

The previously much-criticised team

Pakistan’s performance in a tumultuous year – a bottom place finish in the World Cup, fifth in the Azlan Shah Cup and a dismal sixth at the Commonwealth Games – drew fierce criticism from Olympians.

They  lambasted the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and held its officials responsible for the sport’s continuous decline.

New ray of hope

With the Asian Games gold, however, the critics have made a u-turn.

“The win in the final match took me to our past when we used to stand on top of the podium,” said former captain and coach Islahuddin Siddiqui who led the Pakistan team in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angles where team earned their last gold in the global event.

“The team has shown that they are capable of winning. The players definitely deserve all the praise for their hard work and determination that paid off in the form of a victory.”

Legendary striker Hasan Sardar said the victory had rescued national hockey from further decline.

“We badly needed the gold after which the game has come back to life,” said Sardar who also served as a national selector.

“This might be the beginning of new era and a step towards revival of our national sport. The PHF should also get the praise for this great success at the Asian Games”

Former captain Samiullah was also delighted with the victory.

“The Pakistan team produced their best performance after a long time in the tournament and their one-sided victory against Malaysia in the final match was definitely commendable.”

National Games may feature hockey

The memorable gold medal finish by Pakistan has prompted the National Games organisers to reconsider their decision of omitting the sport from next month’s biggest multi-sporting event of the country.

Hockey was the biggest sport that faced the axe besides football and cycling.

The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) committee, according to officials, dumped the sport due to security concerns for the event that already faced postponement thrice due to the same reason.

“It has become inevitable to keep hockey away from the National Games after the triumph,” a POA official told The Express Tribune. “We might arrange the event at some other venue due to security reasons but things are yet to be finalised.”

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Sports Minister Syed Aaqil Shah, however, refused to confirm whether the sport would be drafted in for the Games.

“Things have definitely changed after the victory but nothing is certain about inclusion of hockey yet,” said Shah who is also the president of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Olympic Association (K-POA). “The matter will come under discussion in a Special Olympic Committee on December 3 and all stakeholders will be taken into confidence before making any decision.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2010.