National hockey in Pakistan continues to decline with our national team yet again failing to qualify for the semi-finals by finishing fifth in the recently concluded Ninth Junior (under -21) World Cup.
Germany, the holders of senior World Cup and gold medallists of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, outdid their own junior record by winning the title for the fifth time. Winning five gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the 30-year history of the Junior Cup, Germany displayed great professional commitment for the game throughout the tournament, a factor that was almost found missing in Pakistan's hockey team.
Australia registered a convincing 4-1 success against New Zealand to finish third for bronze medals. Final standings were (1) Germany, (2) The Netherlands, (3) Australia, (4) New Zealand, (5) Pakistan, (6) Argentina, (7) South Korea, (8) Spain, (9) India, (10) Poland, (11) Belgium, (12) Malaysia, (13) Japan, (14) Egypt, (15) South Africa, (16) England, (17) Chile, (18) Russia, (19) Singapore and (20) USA.
The 15-day World Cup, co-hosted for the first time by Malaysia and Singapore, concluded in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. It was the biggest assembly of World Juniors yet, and the new format provided the weaker teams a great opportunity to gain experience by competing against stronger sides.Pakistan, champions of the 1979 Inaugural Cup 30 years ago, having finished third in a row from 1982 to 1989 and 1993 silver medallists, put up a dismal performance, failing to win even bronze medals. Placed in a five-team Pool A, team Pakistan were comfortable winners against minnows Russia (7-2) and low-ranking Egypt (5-1). Though the team bagged appreciation for defeating defending champions Argentina (3-2), their defeat in the hands of Belgium (1-2) in the last pool match was disappointing.
However, Pakistan qualified for the Super-eight from Pool A, thanks to the brilliant performance of centre forward Haseem Khan who managed to secure a hat-trick in the first match against Russia and netted two against Egypt.
In Pakistan's match with Australia, the Aussies outclassed Pakistan 6-1 and centre forward Haseem Khan was the only scorer in the first match of the four-team Pool F which included New Zealand and South Korea. Pakistan was out of the semi-final race after suffering its second successive defeat against Kiwis who triumphed 4-2.
The game with Australia exposed Pakistan team's poor preparations under the outdated traditional formations. The problem with Pakistan hockey is that all the former Olympian coaches are unprepared and unwilling to adopt new formations.
On the brighter side, throughout the tournament, vice-captain Haseem Khan, performed at the best of his abilities earning 10 goals for Pakistan, while other attackers Zubair, skipper Shafqat Rasool and Abbas Haider also performed well. However, performances of the goalkeeper, as well as the deep defenders and mid fielders remained lacking.
Even though the team management, its chief coach Khawaja Mohammad Junaid and federation president Qasim Zia are of the view that Pakistan has shown improvement in performance as compared to the 2005 World Cup where we finished off in the seventh place, impartial observers are of the view that Pakistan gave a dismal performance by failing to qualify for the semi-finals.
The federation chief may have generated enough funds for hockey promotion, but spending lavishly will not help the management or the team in achieving the goal of victory, unless accountability and transparency is ensured.
The nation looks forward to the NA Standing Committee on Sports undertake inquiries on Pakistan's pathetic performance in the Junior World Cup, so that the real reason behind the loss can be revealed.
