Field Hockey – Pakistan’s National Sport
The history of hockey in Pakistan dates back to the middle of the 19th century, when the British had their troops residing in the Sub-continent. They had introduced this game to the public when cricket was not so common. Hockey became the national
game of India and the first clubs were established at Calcutta in 1885. Later, in 1947, Pakistan came into existence and chose hockey to be the national game. The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) was formed in 1948. The Beighton and Agha Khan Cup took place
within ten years of Pakistan’s establishment.
Pakistan has many great names like Waseem Ahmed, Mohammed Saqlain, Hassan Sardar, Sohail Abbas and Rehan Butt are few of them. Pakistan has won four of the Men’s World Cups of 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994. Whereas, won silver medal twice in 1975 and 1990 World
Cup. Another huge achievement in 1994 was the Champion’s Trophy.
Hockey is Pakistan’s national game and the Pakistan hockey team had some glorious years to recall. However, for the past few years the team’s performance had a great set back that is usually blamed as a result of improper management and lack of investment
over their preparation. There is a dire need of talented players for the team at present, considering the performance given by them in the past year. But, the gigantic win of the Asian games has undoubtedly over-shadowed the past failures of the team in 2010.
Moreover, a hope of getting the Olympic title in 2012 has developed in the hearts of the Pakistani fans.
Hockey, in general, is a game with a team consisting of 16 players. Eleven are active in the field while the rest five are substitutes. The eleven players of a team comprise of on goal-keeper, five defenders and five attackers. Hockey has many international
level tournaments for both Men and Women including the Olympics, Quadrennial World Cup, Champion’s Trophy and World cup.
The game starts as a toss of a coin is done and the winning captain can choose a side to start from or the ball. The game time for a hockey match is 70 minutes broken into two halves of 35 minutes each.
The top two hockey events are the Olympics and the World Cup, both commence after four years. Secondly, the most famous event is the Champion’s Trophy that occurs every year among the top six ranked teams. Hockey has become the part of the Common Wealth
Games since 1998.
According to the World statistics, Pakistan has won the Olympics gold medal three times, silver three times and bronze two times. The Champion’s Trophy was started by Pakistan has been victorious thrice. Pakistan hockey team is the seven time Champion in
the Asian games, two silver medals and three bronze medals. In the Asia Cup, three wins and twice runners up and in the Common Wealth Games, they got silver and bronze medal once each until now.
2010 is said to be the most memorable year for the Pakistani team with a large amount of losses and a single gigantic win. This Asian games’ win is worthwhile because it made the team get a direct access to the England Olympics to be commenced in 2012. The
performance of the team in this prestigious event shall determine their potential and consistency towards a better record that has been wrecked by their poor previous performance. No further bad performances are admissible after looking at the ruined record
that used to be sky high at some point of time.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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