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:
1. Pakistan Hockey Federation
2. Wikipedia
The challenge with hockey is not as trivial, there are a lot of things, atleast in my mind
1. Sponsorship
2. Grass root level appreciation
3. Resources (proper ground will be the key one)
4. Charisma (Hockey has lost that long time ago)
5. Proper training
6. Leadership
7. Key would be the interest
In all fairness why would we expect a kid to pick up the hockey stick vs. a cricket bat when there is no future for that kid
The stick itself is not that expensive in pak. I bought slazenger hockey from faisalabad, costed me Rs.2300, but in UK same stick is 250 pounds (28,000 Rs). The problem is the pitch, astro turf is expensive to buy and maintain, our national team practices in army’s hockey stadium (rawalpindi). Sadly, that is the only one well maintained.
The government can put money in to promote a sport but that has to follow by private sector who sponcer teams and players. This follows by public spending money for entertainment.
The government hasn’t put any money in eihter hockey or football. Even if it does, the private sector will not do enough. Our industrialists are hopeless!
I think, there should be more inter school tournaments, that might help.
Hockey is a dying sport, city kids do not play this game, there is no money in this game, our players do not have physical fitness, infrastructure is lacking, its time that Pakistan should stop playing this retarded game and invest money into more global and regional games like football.
Well even if we don’t do geat in hockey, its not that important. Sports on average is on the decline in Pakistan as they have been in India. It seems like both India and Pakistan are facing similar problems in sports.
I think sponsorship is also somewhat related to electronic media hype and coverage. When a sport is given some projection, it naturally creates more interest among the people and automatically starts to draw sponsors too. In recent years, cricket has been getting a lot more coverage in the electronic media than cricket. This difference is not just due to the decline of hockey; after all, our cricket team’s performance is not much better than the hockey team. To revive media interest in hockey, the govt needs to push PTV to give more coverage to the game.
Then of course there are two more very important factors going against hockey. One is the fact that you need every player to have a hockey stick. In cricket, you just need one bat, which makes it a really convenient game for the general public. Secondly, you need a smooth surface to play proper hockey, and this has become all the more important after the introduction of the astroturf. In cricket, you can manage with a somewhat uneven surface.