Adil Najam
Miracles can still happen. But they are unlikely to.
In a few hours (at 6PM Beijing time) Pakistan’s field hockey team will play its fourth qualifying game against South Africa. Pakistan can and should win this game (South Africa is rated at the bottom of the teams that have qualified for Beijing). But as important will be the results of the Australia v. Netherlands match, also to be played today at 8.30PM Beijing time. If Australia beats the Netherlands (possible) and - and this is very important - Pakistan then also beats the Netherlands (quite unlikely) and ends up with a goal average better than the Netherlands then Pakistan may - and, yes, its is still a may - have a chance to slide into the semi-finals (things will also depend of what Great Britain does in its remaining games). Had we not lost our first game to Great Britain we might have had a realistic chance; but we did not.
[UPDATE: Pakistan did defeat South Africa, 3-1, but the Australia-Netherlands game ended in a draw which means they have both now moved into the Semi-Finals, and Pakistan has not.]
As it turns out, then, it will take more than just a miracle now for Pakistan to medal at Beijing.
(AFP Photo: From Left -Iraq’s Dana Abdulrazak, France’s Christine Arron, Pakistan’s Sadaf Siddiqui, Brazil’s Lucimar de Moura, Lauryn Williams of the US and Tuvalu’s Asenate Manoa during the women’s 100m heat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics on August 16, 2008.
(AFP Photo: From Left - Puerto Rico’s Hector Cotto Gonzalez, Czech Republic’s Petr Svoboda, Colombian Paulo Villar, Pakistan’s Abdul Rashid, and Barbados’s Ryan Brathwaite during the men’s 110m hurdles heat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics on August 18, 2008.
But let us not be too harsh on the Pakistan Olympic squad. Winning is great. But participation also matters. And we have not been paying enough attention to Pakistani athletes, especially those not playing hockey, who have actually been participating at Beijing. So, here is a summary of what they have been up to. We salute them for their participation. Cheer them on for the effort they have put in. And look forward to better placements next time. (One of the following, Abdul Rashid, will be participating in the 110m hurdles at 311.26AM Beijing Time, Monday):
08.10.2008 - 25 years old Siddique Umar participated in the Men’s M 10m Air Rifle (60 shots). With a score of 578.0 he finished 48th.
08.13.2008 - 25 years old Adil Baig participated in Heat 5 of the Men’s 50m swimming qualifier. With a time of 25.66 seconds he finished 7th in his heat and overall 74th in the qualifiers.
08.14.2008 - 18 years old Kiran Khan participated in Heat 4 of the Women’s 50m swimming qualifier. With a time of 29.84 seconds she finished 6th in her heat and overall 69th in the qualifiers.
08.15.2008 - 22 years old Sadaf Siddiqui participated in Heat 2 of the Women’s 100m Round 1 Heat 2. With a time of 12.41 seconds she finished 7th in her heat. She did not qualify for next round.
08.16.2008 - 25 years old Siddique Umar participated in the Men’s 50m Free Rifle 3 positions (3×40 shots). With a score of 1116.0 he finished 49th.
08.18.2008 - 29 years old Abdul Rashid participated in the Men’s 110m Hurdles Round 1, Heat 3. With a time of 11.26 seconds he finished 8th amongst 8 in his heat.
Not unexpectedly, it is ever more clear that Pakistan’s Olympic 2008 contingent is likely to return from Beijing without any medals. Indeed, Pakistan has not won a medal since the 1992 Barcelona games (Bronze in Hockey). The question, then, is what could we do to change this dry spell. Not just in hockey but in other sports?
Squash legend Jehangir Khan, who now leads the World Squash Federation (WSF) is right now trying to make Squash an Olympics sport for the 2016 Games. He is quite likely to succeed. But given Pakistan’s recent squash performance it is not certain that this will ensure us a medal in 2016.
Cricket, in its 20-20 variant, could also make it to the Olympics sometime soon. Cricket was actually contested in the 1900 Olympics, but only two countries participated. That would likely make us competitive. But what about existing sports? If there was the will and the resources what could one do to make Pakistan show up in the medal tables?
What specific steps would you take if you were made the sports czar of Pakistan with teh goal of ensuring that Pakistan appears in the medal table by 2016. What sports would you focus on? Why? How?
Do please share ideas. Maybe, just maybe, someone out there may be listening.
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I think Wrestling (Since Kabbadi is already popular), boxing (physique of the people esp. Pathans) and maybe long distance running.
Focussing on sports as we see again and again in different places can have huge social benefits and a sense of pride in country. For that reason alone I think it is a good investment for Pakistan. We should focus on a few sports and put serious resources in becoming competitive in them over the next 20 years (you cannot do this overnight).
I think good candidates are:
Hockey
Boxing (lighter weights)
Shooting
Midde distance running
Also, I do think that both cricket and squash will make it to the Olympics soon and that will also add to Pakistan’s interest in this.
I was just reading “36 facts about the Olympic medal count” on yahoo. One of the fact they mentioned is, “Pakistan was the most populous country not to win an Olympic medal (164 million residents, sixth-largest nation in the world).” Pretty disappointing to say the least.
Glad that you have highlighted the non-hockey athletes too. Let us not forget the Olympics motto.
I also think that Jamaica is teh country to learn from. FOcus on your strengths and think strategically about where we can make the best.
P.S. By the way, thsi childish India-Pakistan bickering in last few comments is silly and shoudl be removed. Does not matter if the Indian commenter was acting arrogant and taunting. He should have been ignored. I really think moderator shoudl just remove all such childish comments.
Reality Fact:
Pakistan cannot do anything in any present olympic sports.
First Pakistan Women: U cannot compete with head to toe close dresses compare to other countries who are winning medals.Pakistan doesnot encourage women to complete in major competition.
Pakistan Men: Apart from Hockey there are no notable training facilities & guidance to guide them.
Pakistan should concentrate on development in Sports rather than fighting among themselves.
Hum kabhi aage nahi badh paayege……..
Reason : Jab bhi India aage aata hai toh hum kehte hai unki population zayada hai n all that…………
Hum Jeetne walo ki taang khich sakte hai par jeet nahi sakte……….
Laalat hai…..
I am also amazed at Jamaica men and women ruling the track and field sprints.
Does anyone know what type of progams do they have. I assume from this you need facilities that Jamaica must have invested in? This is really worth investigating as to what we can learn from this small poor country in how o set up a program to excel in the right sports.
Dear Khan (I assume from you comment that you are an Indian, but I may be wrong).
As a Pakistani, I am really not interested in India’s performance because it is not a comparable country (8 times the population size) plus its performance is even worse than Pakistan’s given its size (did not even qualify in hockey). Anyhow, that is for you guys in India to discuss, we wish you well.
Also, I think it is very unfair of you to call India, your country, a fundamentalist country. I don’t think it is. As you say, your “point is to compare 2 similar nations.” That woudl mean comparing China and India (similar size, growth rates, etc.). One is a superpower in sports and the other, well what can I say.
Anyhow, as I said I wish India had done better in sports. I wish you guys well and you should really not be so harsh on yourself to call your country India a fundamentalist country. That is really low self-esteem. You guys have much to be proud of.
take care.