Pakistan has finished at a distant seventh place in the 29th Champions trophy hockey tournament. This is the lowest rank for Pakistan in the history of Champions Trophy. Despite being the national game of Pakistan, the demise of hockey in the country has been epic. In the recent past Pakistan hockey team got defeats at the hands of China, Canada and Malaysia, which were unheard of until 2006. So where does the blame lie for this steady debacle? I thought about it and I concluded that besides the usual suspects i.e the coach, the captain, the selection committee etc; A big portion of the blame also goes to the disproportionate sponsorship which goes to the game of cricket as compared to that of hockey. There is lots of money in becoming a cricket superstar and not so much in becoming the hockey hero. Not to mention the glamor and the popularity associated with being a cricketer is manifolds than a hockey player. e.g. how many advertisement offers does Sohail Abbas (hockey) gets as compared to (say) Shahid Afridi (Cricket). Of course Shahid’s good looks also play a role but Sohail Abbas is not that ugly that he couldn’t even get Lifeboy soap’s endorsement. Zameer Jafri’s sher comes to mind
un ki gali meiN aisay khaRaa hooN
jaisay hockey ka goal keeper hooN
I understand my reasoning of blaming hockey’s debacle on cricket is too simplistic but I do think it is one of the biggest reasons in case of Pakistan atleast.
If we look around our neighborhoods, it is evident that Hockey, as a popular game in Pakistan has been on a constant decline since 1980s. A few youth today choose hockey as a hobby or profession as compared to those who choose cricket. Hockey clubs and grounds at neighborhood level, which were a common sight in 1980s have disappeared now. Today the reign of cricket as the most popular game in Pakistan is complete.
Getting back to Champions Trophy Hockey tournament and Pakistan’s record in it, I’ve collected following history of the tournament. The tournament was started in 1979, thanks to its founding father Air Marshal (retd) Nur Khan who was also the chief of hockey affairs in Pakistan then. Following data shows Pakistan’s performance in the 29 Champions trophy tournaments.
I: 1979: Lahore, Pakistan
1st: Pakistan
2nd: Australia
3rd: England
4th: New Zealand
II: 1980: Karachi, Pakistan
1st: Pakistan
2nd: West Germany
3rd: Australia
4th: Netherlands
III: 1981: Karachi, Pakistan
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Australia
3rd: West Germany
4th: Pakistan
IV: 1982: Amstelveen, Netherlands
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Australia
3rd: India
4th: Pakistan
V: 1983: Karachi, Pakistan
1st: Australia
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: West Germany
4th: India
VI: 1984: Karachi, Pakistan
1st: Australia
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: England
4th: Netherlands
VII: 1985: Perth, Australia
1st: Australia
2nd: England
3rd: West Germany
4th: Pakistan
VIII: 1986: Karachi, Pakistan
1st: West Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Pakistan
4th: England
IX: 1987: Amstelveen, Netherlands
1st: West Germany
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: Australia
4th: England
Unknown: Pakistan ? reader’s help needed here
X: 1988: Lahore, Pakistan
1st: West Germany
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: Australia
4th: USSR
XI: 1989: Berlin, West Germany
1st: Australia
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: West Germany
4th: Pakistan
XII: 1990: Melbourne, Australia
1st: Australia
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: West Germany
4th: Pakistan
5th: USSR
6th: England
Points Table before the play offs in XII th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XIII: 1991: Berlin, Germany
1st: Germany
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Australia
5th: England
6th: USSR
Points Table before the play offs in XIII th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XIV: 1992: Karachi, Pakistan
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Pakistan
4th: Netherlands
5th: England
6th: France
Points Table before the play offs in XIV th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XV: 1993: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1st: Australia
2nd: Germany
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Pakistan
5th: Spain
6th: Malaysia
Points Table before the play offs in XV th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XVI: 1994: Lahore, Pakistan
1st: Pakistan
2nd: Germany
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Australia
5th: Spain
6th: England
Points Table before the play offs in XVI th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XVII: 1995: Berlin, Germany
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Pakistan
4th: Netherlands
5th: India
6th: England
Points Table before the play offs in XVII th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XVIII: 1996: Madras, India
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: Germany
4th: India
5th: Spain
6th: Australia
Points Table before the play offs in XVIII th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XIX: 1997: Adelaide, Australia
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Spain
4th: Netherlands
5th: Pakistan
6th: South Korea
Points Table before the play offs in XIX th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XX: 1998: Lahore, Pakistan
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: Australia
4th: South Korea
5th: Spain
6th: Germany
Points Table before the play offs in XX th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XXI: 1999: Brisbane, Australia
1st: Australia
2nd: South Korea
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Spain
5th: England
6th: Pakistan
Points Table before the play offs in XXI th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XXII: 2000: Amstelveen, Netherlands
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Germany
3rd: South Korea
4th: Spain
5th: Australia
6th: Englsnd
Pakistan did not qualify to play this year
XXIII: 2001: Rotterdam, Netherlands
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Pakistan
5th: England
6th: South Korea
Points Table before the play offs in XXIII th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XXIV: 2002: Cologne, Germany
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Germany
3rd: Pakistan
4th: India
5th: Australia
6th: South Korea
Points Table before the play offs in XXIV th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XXV: 2003: Amstelveen, Netherlands
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Australia
3rd: Pakistan
4th: India
5th: Argentina
6th: Germany
Points Table before the play offs in XXV th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XXVI: 2004: Lahore, Pakistan
1st: Spain
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: Pakistan
4th: India
5th: Germany
6th: New Zealand
Points Table before the play offs in XXVI th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XXVII: 2005: Chennai, India
1st: Australia
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: Spain
4th: Germany
5th: Pakistan
6th: India
Points Table before the play offs in XXVII th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XXVIII: 2006: Terrassa, Spain
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Germany
3rd: Spain
4th: Australia
5th: Pakistan
6th: Argentina
Final Points Table at the end of XXVIII th Champions Trophy looked like below:
XXIX: 2007: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Netherlands
4th: South Korea
5th: Spain
6th: England
7th: Pakistan
8th: Malaysia
Final Points Table at the end of XXIX th Champions Trophy looked like below:
ATP’s other Hockey Related Posts
1. Abdul Waheed Khan and Pakistan Hockey
2. Upset or End of Pakistan Hockey
3. Hockey World Cup: Attention Deficit
References:
This is very Good Site
We can know every thing About Hockey
But this time PAkistan did not show good result
A propos, Squash is another game on the decline, rather it is almost buried, but again it was a one-man-show throughout. Personal excellence overshadowed the poor infrastructure. Commercialisation or no commercialisation, Pakistani people don’t like GOING in for a sport on the whole. Watching is the better alternative for many!