Comments on: Pakistan crash out of Olympics after humiliating defeat

By: ujcricket

ujcricket — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:04:57 +0000

banning cricket would be like suicide, bcoz at this time cricket is the game which is giving us some pride. when hockey used to be popular in India than cricket never said to ban hockey so they can grow. cricketers worked hard and peaked at the right time. whereas hockey administration drowned into corruption. we Indians should change our habits to blame other factors for our own mistakes. people will watch cricket all day long and if we play badly than they will curse our team that they play only for money. but i want to ask those people that why they wasted 8 hours in a day in watching a game. don't they have some duties towards their country. people will say than we don't have good batsmen or bowlers, but they will not inspire their kids to be a sportsperson instead they would pressurize the kids to get high marks in 10th then in 12th and then give iit , than go to iims and than try to become get a govt. job( sarkari naukri) so that they can live life without any struggle. i think its time for us to wake up and understand our responsibilities toward oour country and taking responsibility for what is happening in India and not blaming others .

By: ujcricket

ujcricket — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 04:53:25 +0000

do u think that just investing huge sums of money will get us gold medals. if it is true than how can kenya won gold medals . it is not about the quantity of money invested but what is more important is that to invest the money in avenues where we have more potential. therefore i think that India and Pakistan should choose some particular sports and focus on them so that they can develop those sports. Indians and Pakistanis are good in wrestling and hockey(i mean there is still hope) so instead of distributing funds to all sports we should choose 5 priority sports and try to invest our resources in them so even if we compete in less sports we would be able to get some medals from our priority sports.
one more thing, i've been to many forums including Indians and Pakistanis where they are always fighting . but this is a forum where i saw people of both countries trying to discuss properly . i hope if we can do this more often instead of fighting over useless topics (which just wastes our time) than there will be good chances to improve ourselves as well as our relationship.

By: BEA

BEA — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:32:51 +0000

Pakistan should take aleaf out of Chinas book start training kids at a young age in all sports then be ready for the next games.

By: Anwar Khushab

Anwar Khushab — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:38:19 +0000

Excellent, thoughtful letter. As a Pakistani, I congratulate the Australians on their professional approach to training, and urge the hockey administration in Pakistan to heed some of the lessons outlined in Scott's letter.

By: anony

anony — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 07:12:49 +0000

Please stop labeling this as a 'humiliating' defeat. It was a defeat against a very strong opponent. Can Pakistan improve their current kills in hockey? Yes, of course. But they are no amateurs. Winning and losing is part of the game, but we shouldn't straight forward discourage the hard work of the Pakistan hockey team. They will come back strong for sure. I love the hockey team, as it represents my country and am very proud of them and their achievements.

By: aswani indur

aswani indur — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:43:16 +0000

i do not know why pakistani blame players.they worked very hard to win the medals. problem do not lay with players but with money training and phisque.america spends atleast 3 million dollars per person for one gold medal.pak and india can not affords that kind money.best thing for poor countries to send less people with more training and less officers.good luck for next olympic.

By: asim

asim — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:33:16 +0000

well said scott…hit right on the nail !

By: Hamid Hameed

Hamid Hameed — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:04:39 +0000

They should quit wearing shalwar kameez, even at home, and also dhoti.

By: Surryiamahmood

Surryiamahmood — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:26:52 +0000

Who says that all the European or American players in Olympics are literate. Have you tested them? Most of them are only groomed to play sports. They learn to play a selected game, gymnastic, races,horse riding,swimming etc from the babyhood even under five have gymnastic for 2 to 5 years old babies. You need to become wise through education,discipline and team spirit and leadership is learnt through games and practical activities.Literacy is very important but it will depend what you read and what you learn from your reading. Developed countries involve their youth in schools primary and high in volunteering and fund raising activities for their players. what do you do?

By: Hamood

Hamood — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:25:49 +0000

By far the best analysis I have seen so far. Good job Scott. I agree that Pakistan is still a decent enough team that needs to adapt to the changing times. I agree with you 100% that astro turf is not the only reason for our decline. We won the Gold in Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and won the World Cup 1994 in Sydney, both played on astro turf. In addition, we performed occasionally well in Champions trophy as well. We still think that we can beat more physically fit or technically sound teams with old style Asian hockey. For that you need players who are born once in a lifetime. Pakistan won the Golds in 84 and 94 mostly because of individual skills of Hassan Sardar and Shahbaz Ahmad. Players like those two are not born everyday, we don't have a single player who comes even close. Plus hockey has now become a complete team sport and does not rely on individuals alone. The biggest obstacle is the mismanagement and corruption by PHF and the political influence by the govt in the PHF. Right now Pakistan hockey is barely hanging on among the top 7 or so teams. If these issues are not addressed we will see ourselves out of the top ten very soon.