KARACHI: The visiting World XI players and foreign Hall of Fame stalwarts have vowed to help in the revival of hockey in Pakistan and praised the country’s contribution in the game during the past many decades.

“Pakistan’s contribution in hockey is laudable and without parallel,” said the foreign hockey stars at a meet the press session and the PTCL Cup unveiling ceremony of the two-match series held at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium on Thursday.

The foreigners were delig­hted and acknowledged the overwhelming response from the print and electronic media.

Recalling wonderful memories from the past, world renowned penalty corner striker Paul Litjens of Holland said he is visiting Pakistan after almost quarter-of-a-century. “Pakistan is a nice country and I have had the honour of winning the PIA Champions Trophy at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium way back in 1981,” he told Dawn while standing on the blue and pink synthetic turf.

In a brief chat, the 70-year-old Litjens also recalled Holland’s fantastic 3-1 victory over Pakistan in the World Cup final before a mammoth crowd at Lahore’s National Hockey Stadium in 1990.

Admiring the rich contribution of the late Air Marshal Nur Khan and late Brig M. H. Atif, he said the former conceived the idea of World Cup and Champions Trophy which boosted the game tremendously.

Rob Lathouwers, who comes from a reputed family of hockey umpires from Holland and played a key role in materialising the World XI trip to Pakistan, said the team is a combination of players from half-a-dozen nations — Holland, Australia, Germany, Argen­tina, Spain and New Zealand.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s penalty specialist Sohail Abbas, who was supposed to lead the World XI, has expressed his inability to do so for some reason. “We’ve tried to contact him (Sohail) on his cell phone and WhatsApp him but in vain,” Lathouwers said when asked whether Abbas is playing or not.

Roderick Weusthof of Holland has been named to lead the World XI in place of Abbas.

Lathouwers hoped that Pakistan hockey will be back on track in the years to come, possibly in three to five years.

Another notable umpire of the yore, Don Prior of Australia, and a former Dutch penalty corner specialist Floris Jan Bovelandar said “hockey and Pakistan can’t be separated.”

They hoped Pakistan will return back to host the foreign teams very soon besides improving their standard of play.

At the outset, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President, retired Brig Khalid Sajad Khokhar termed the event “historic” and the first step towards reviving the game and ending the decade long embargo of foreign teams’ visit to the country.

The PHF chief said he still remembers the words of a former FIH president who said “Pakistan is a gateway to hockey and no event can take place without them” when he called on the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif at Lahore in the recent past.

To a question, he said plans are afoot to organise a four-nation tournament at Oman, a venue allowed by the FIH, before the Com­monwealth and Asian Games later this year.

Asked that President Ayub Khan declared hockey a national game after the Rome Olympic victory in 1960 but no member of that team has been included in the Hall of Fame, Khokhar said: “It’s a beginning and all celebrities will be honoured.”

“We’ve included those players who are known by the new generation and will honour the stars from 1948 London Olympics till now with the passage of time,” he added.

Answering yet another question, Khokhar said the country has a reserviour of great players and he had personally sent letters to them with a request to come on one platform and suggest ways and means for the betterment of the game.

The PHF president negated the impression that the Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) has not been taken on board. “The presence of the KHA secretary Haider Hussain is a true indicator.”

Chief Commercial Officer of the PTCL Adnan Shahid hoped that the PHF’s efforts would bore fruitful results in reviving and bringing back the past glory. He also welcomed the foreign players in Pakistan. Zakir Ali of Inverex, another sponsor of the event, also spoke on the occasion.

Flanked by the captains of the World XI Roderick Weusthof and Pakistan under-18 team Junaid Manzoor, the PHF chief unveiled the PTCL Cup amidst thunderous applause.

Also present on the occasion were PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed, vice-president Tariq Huda, former Olympians Shahnaz Sheikh, Hasan Sardar, Pakistan under-18 manager Qamar Ibrahim, Mansoor Ahmed, Iftikhar Syed, Nasir Ali and ex-international Safdar Abbas among others.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2018