"Everyone Wants To Play Cricket": Pakistan Hockey's Big Problem Decoded After Hockey World Cup Failure
Former Pakistan hockey players have lamented the team's dismal performance at the ongoing World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium, calling for an injection of fresh blood to revive the country's once-glorious hockey tradition.
Former Pakistan hockey players have lamented the team's dismal performance at the ongoing World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium, calling for an injection of fresh blood to revive the country's once-glorious hockey tradition. They also believe that cricket's overwhelming popularity and dominance in Pakistan is, to some extent, a consequence of hockey's steep decline, which has gradually eroded the sport's following and prominence in the country. Despite being the most successful team in World Cup history with four titles, Pakistan have endured a 32-year barren spell since their last triumph in 1994. Their struggles continued at the ongoing tournament, where they were eliminated from the title race and will now face South Africa in the classification match for 11th place.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) recently announced plans to launch a hockey league and promote the sport in schools and other educational institutions. However, former players believe the federation's immediate priority should be preparing the national team for the Asian Games in Japan next month, before embarking on longer-term initiatives.
They argue that a strong performance at the Asian Games would be crucial to restoring confidence in Pakistan hockey and laying the foundation for its revival.
"This hockey league and all is fine in the long run but right now Pakistan hockey needs an injection (of fresh blood) which will only come if we do well in the Asian Games against India, Malaysia, Japan, China, Korea and other sides,” said former Olympian Wasim Feroze.
He cautioned that unless Pakistan hockey began winning matches and producing positive results, youngsters would gradually lose interest in the sport, which was already a major concern for hockey in the country.
"Everyone wants to play cricket and we are not getting enough talent from the grassroots level,” he added.
Another former international, Ahmed Alam, said PHF must seriously examine why Pakistan have struggled to beat European and SENA nations (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia).
"Even against Japan, we've struggled. You look at the FIH Pro League where we lost all our matches against the European and SENA teams, and it is obvious Pakistan hockey has fallen way behind other countries,” he said.
Pakistan finished ninth and last in the Pro League recently.
He said India was the only Asian side still capable of competing consistently with European teams, Australia and New Zealand, largely because its hockey system was continuing to produce results.
Former hockey great Rasheed-ul-Hasan lamented that Pakistan and India, which once dominated world hockey, had both failed to reach the semifinal stage of the World Cup.
“It hurts to see this but we have only ourselves to blame for allowing the European nations in the FIH to change rules to their advantage and then exploiting the changed scenario with their aggressive and fast style of play," he added.
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