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
XIII: 1991: Berlin, Germany
1st: Germany
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Australia
5th: England
6th: USSR
XIV: 1992: Karachi, Pakistan
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Pakistan
4th: Netherlands
5th: England
6th: France
XV: 1993: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1st: Australia
2nd: Germany
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Pakistan
5th: Spain
6th: Malaysia
XVI: 1994: Lahore, Pakistan
1st: Pakistan
2nd: Germany
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Australia
5th: Spain
6th: England
XVII: 1995: Berlin, Germany
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Pakistan
4th: Netherlands
5th: India
6th: England
XVIII: 1996: Madras, India
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: Germany
4th: India
5th: Spain
6th: Australia
XIX: 1997: Adelaide, Australia
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Spain
4th: Netherlands
5th: Pakistan
6th: South Korea
XX: 1998: Lahore, Pakistan
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Pakistan
3rd: Australia
4th: South Korea
5th: Spain
6th: Germany
XXI: 1999: Brisbane, Australia
1st: Australia
2nd: South Korea
3rd: Netherlands
4th: Spain
5th: England
6th: Pakistan
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
XXIV: 2002: Cologne, Germany
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Germany
3rd: Pakistan
4th: India
5th: Australia
6th: South Korea
XXV: 2003: Amstelveen, Netherlands
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Australia
3rd: Pakistan
4th: India
5th: Argentina
6th: Germany
XXVI: 2004: Lahore, Pakistan
1st: Spain
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: Pakistan
4th: India
5th: Germany
6th: New Zealand
XXVII: 2005: Chennai, India
1st: Australia
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: Spain
4th: Germany
5th: Pakistan
6th: India
XXVIII: 2006: Terrassa, Spain
1st: Netherlands
2nd: Germany
3rd: Spain
4th: Australia
5th: Pakistan
6th: Argentina
XXIX: 2007: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1st: Germany
2nd: Australia
3rd: Netherlands
4th: South Korea
5th: Spain
6th: England
7th: Pakistan
8th: Malaysia
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 the 2nd time Pakistan has been in 7th position in Champions’ Trophy. In 1987 we were 7th though in 1988 we came back to 2nd position.
2000 has been the worst year when Pakistan did not qualify at all to play in Champions Trophy.
It is my observation that historically, Pakistan team has done better while playing in sub-continent. Weather, culture and distractions (for our team) could be one reason for poor performance of the team (including the team management). May be they are not properly acclimatized to the travel situations.
http://www.rediff.com/sports/ctpro02.htm
1978 Lahore Winner
1980 Lahore Winner
1981 Karachi 4th Place
1982 Amstelveen 4th Place
1983 Karachi 2nd Place
1984 Karachi 2nd Place
1985 Perth 4th Place
1986 Karachi 3rd Place
1987 Amstelveen 7th Place
1988 Lahore 2nd Place
1989 Berlin 4th Place
1990 Melbourne 4th Place
1991 Berlin 2nd Place
1992 Karachi 3rd Place
1993 Kuala Lumpur 4th Place
1994 Lahore Winner
1995 Berlin 3rd Place
1996 Madras 2nd Place
1997 Adelaide 5th Place
1998 Lahore 2nd Place
1999 Brisbane 6th Place
2000 Amstelveen Did not play
2001 Rotterdam 4th Place
2002 Cologne 3rd
2003 Amstelveen 3rd
2004 Lahore 3rd
2005 Chennai 5th
2006 Terasa 5th
2007 Kaula Lumpur 7th
On the lighter side, 1987 was the first year Women’s Champions Trpophy started, and may be the team was more interested in watching the new teams instead of focussing on their own game. It is a cultural trait :)
Lately, Pakistan managed to get on the victory stands in 2004 in Lahore (possibly home ground advantage). The team has been struggling to come close to it since then.
Lack of sponsorships, promotions, exposure are all valid reason why we have not established and maintained ’superemacy’ in this game, even though it is our national game.
@Owais Mughal
Why would the corporations sponsor hockey when they don’t see any money in it? And why would the youth come out to play when they don’t see any future in it?
Youth will not go to hockey unless there is some strong sponsorship from corporations. Regional hockey teams should be owned and operated by corporate Pakistan. The money advantage will draw youth into playing hockey otherwise all the talent will keep going to cricket.
For the past two years, there has been a regional league in Pakistan which invites 6 players from India also. It has been a big success as far as crown pulling is concerned.
1980-1988 there was just one austroturf in Pakistan and it still produced results. Now there is artificial turf in almost every major city. In my opinion it is more of a case of bringing youth out of their homes and give them incentive to play hockey.
Bring back SOHAIL ABBAS……immediately.
The decline of hockey, in my view, is due mainly to commercialism of the electronic media. In fact cricket is no longer a sport but a commercial vaganza which the hockey lacks. But I wonder why even our national media ignore hockey as they deprive us seeing or even informing us about very important international hockey matches.
This is the century of commercialization of sports, now a multibillion-dollar global industry. Unfortunately, the hockey does not fit in it. Either games fit into big money or they must die. Hockey has lost this battle, its time to say goodbye to this beautiful game and bury it with honors.
@Did you grow up
Funny you mention football. With the current level of stamina, how exactly do you suppose the pakistani youth can excel in football that arguably needs much more of it than hockey?
@Kashif
I think our youth are just lazy. May be all these premier leagues around the world will give them some incentives to get off their butts to do some hard work.
Neither hockey nor football. I think the money should go more into Tennis in which we have a rising star, Aisam-ul-Haq without any government or private sector sponsorship.
First a sport has to become popular among people on its own and then it should be sponsored, rather than the other way around. Once snooker became popular among masses, because it was cheap, only then we were able to produce a world champion, Muhammad Yunis. I don’t know about Hockey but Football has never got the popularity in Pakistan. Only other sport I can think of that is played quite a lot, specially in poor areas, is volley ball. If there needs to be any investment it should be in volley ball if the private sector finds it to be profitable to invest beyond the cities. But I think the private sector won’t go to the rural area unless the cities have become saturated, which going by the population growth rates would still take many years. Till that time stick with cricket and forget about hockey.