THE back-to-back competitions including the revival of the long awaited Inter-club hockey by the Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) has been hailed by the game’s fraternity but there have been some grey areas that need to be looked into before the next edition.

Beecham Hockey Club won the inter-club title by getting the better of Hanif Khan XI 4-3 in the final played at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Stadium. An untoward incident in the final however, marred the important occasion.

Television channels repeatedly showed a videowhere Fahad Khan of the Hanif Khan XI was seen kicking one of the umpires Takreem Iftikhar in the fourth quarter, protesting and disputing a decision made by the latter. The player was joined in his unbecoming act by his two colleagues Owais Khan and Asim Khan.

Neither the team nor the players were immediately reprimanded by the officials as the curtains fell on the event.

The newly elected KHA secretary Haider Hussain, when contacted, told Dawn that acting on the reports from technical officials and the umpires manager, one tournament ban was imposed on the Hanif Khan XI while the three players were banned for six months.

The technical committee comprised Anis Kayani, Mohammad Faizan and Nadeem while veteran official Saeed Ahmed Siddiqui was umpires manager with Mohsin Ali Khan as his deputy.

Altogether 49 teams participated in the event which was held on knockout basis. Five teams were given a bye each and were directly placed in the third round.

The initial round matches until the semi-finals show tall scoring results which are true indicator of the fact that most of the players held the hockey sticks for the first time besides having no experience of playing on the synthetic turf.

Experts say it would have been wise if the matches were staged on league basis. The matches were also played at two more venues – Customs Sports Complex and Dr M. A. Shah-Islahuddin Academy - besides the above mentioned one.

To a question, the KHA secretary said over RsI million were spent on reviving the inter-club hockey, the first event of the new body.

The expenditure among others include providing transportation to some 12-13 schools for sending students at the final, distribution of juices and mineral water among the crowd.

The A O Clinic Karachi Hockey Champions Trophy, that followed the inter-club contest after a week’s break for the top eight teams — sans Hanif Khan XI, on the round robin format, was clinched by Jan Mohammad XI who defeated Al Sagheer Club by 5-3 on penalty shootouts as both the teams failed to settle the issue in regulation time.

Strangely, five teams — Beecham Hockey Club, Jan Mohammad XI, Al Sagheer Hockey Club, Al Faisal Hockey Club and Iftikhar Syed Hockey Club – participated in the second leg.

Pak PWD, National Hockey Club and Abdul Rauf XI were cospicious by their absence.

It was a healthy sign to see a good gathering of young players, students of couple of schools and some former stalwarts of the yore at the final of the second event the other day.

Headed by Dr Syed Junaid Ali Shah the new KHA look determined to revive the game across the city which has produced a galaxy of players in the past.

They plan to raise three tiers - seniors, under-18 and under-14 – after holding open trials early next year. The selected players will be given monthly remuneration under slab system.

The KHA also plans to hire a psychiatrist, a physiotherapist and nutrition besides the coaches to run the teams on synthetic lines.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2016