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. 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.
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.
Asad – We are talking about overall sporting presence. India i am comparing because see their global standing in Tennis – Leander / Mahesh / Sania . Chess – Vishwanathan Anand . Shooting -Rathore / Abhinav Bhindra . Wrestling – the whole bunch from BHIWANI Haryana …..I think they may wake up very soon also on Track and field and Swimming….My point is to compare 2 similar nations – one with scientific thinking and the other with fundamental thinking…..
I think the country to learn from is JAMAICA
Small country, very poor, but they figure out where the talent is and then invest everything in creating champions in that sport. And now they rule the sprinting.
If India can win 3 medals -1 gold and 2 bronzes, are we still sleeping. It’s shame on our part not to compete with india atleast. india despite being a cricket country they have proved that they can do. I am sure in the 2012 Olympics, they might target 2-3 golds. Why are we not changing ? Only talking about religion….
Thanks Adil Najam for summarizing Pakistan’s performance at Beijing Olympics. Apart from hockey, Pakistan had won medals only in boxing and wrestling in the past. Though we have participated in some other sports, our performance had been dismal.
For our athletes to show high standards at Olympics, we have to invest heavily in their training by providing them proper equipment, upgraded sports facilities and good coaches. We have to target a few games (rowing, boxing, wrestling, weight lifting, etc)and then launch a country wide campaign to select talented young athletes and then train them properly. We may learn from the Chinese model and even solicit their assistance in this respect.
The Chinese are winning medals thanks to something called Project 119 which they launched after Sydney Olympics in 2000. Chinese calculated that there are 119 disciplines like track & field, pool, etc where Chinese were weak. They won only one gold in those 119 sports at Sydney. Project 119 was launched with billion of dollars investment and its results are evident from the medals table.
We may not be able to replicate what China did or spend billions but we can at least take some steps with a sense of purpose and determination for improving the sports scene in Pakistan.