LAHORE: The Pakistan hockey team after another dismal show in the three-nation tournament held in Oman has arrived in Lahore quietly.

Pakistan, despite being the top-ranking team (13th) in the presence of Japan (16th) and Oman (32nd) failed to win the tournament, after losing the final to Japan 2-3.

An official of the national team on the condition of anonymity said that the boys were not matching the international standard of fitness and that was a grey area. He said though the PHF was negotiating with a Dutch coach Roelant Oltman, who was also in Oman watching the tournament, the real problem of Pakistani players was its poor fitness standard. If the PHF wants to build a strong team, it should hire the services of a world-class fitness trainer, the official said.

He said the boys were not ready to do hard work, which they should do at all costs to remain in the world of hockey.

The official said Oltman was a good coach and he made the match-plan for almost every match of the three-nation tournament but even he failed to click because of the weak fitness standard of the boys, and added that with this fitness level, it would be a dream to earn laurels in four world class competitions being held in 2018.

Though Pakistan only lost the final to Japan 2-3, in four leagues matches it won two and played as many drawn games to top the table with eight points. In the first match, Pakistan managed to beat Oman by 3-0. But in the second match, it could only hold Japan to a 2-2 draw. In one of the upsets, Pakistan played a 4-4 drawn game against minnows Oman. However, in the next match they managed to beat Japan 2-1 to qualify for the final.

The inconsistence performance of the national team does not indicate any positive picture about the future as four top-level contests — the Commonwealth Games, the Champions Trophy, the Asian Games and the World Cup -- are to be held this year.

On the administrative end, PHF officials are worried over a legal fight against KPK president Zahir Ali Shah, who has levelled serious allegations of corruption over PHF Secretary Shahbaz Senior. The case is pending with the Peshawar High Court, which has summoned PHF President Brig (retd) Sajjad Khokhar. But he did not appear before the justice, claiming he was not well. However, he learnt that the justice has taken serious notice and issued a bail-able warrant for him while deferring the hearing till Feb 28.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2018