Category: Hockey

LAHORE: The head coach of the Pakistan men’s hockey team Siegfried Aikman on Thursday, has stepped down from his position.

According to the details, the Dutch coach did not receive a salary from the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for the past 12 months which made it “impossible for him to continue working” with the team.

“A lot of promises were made but they were not fulfilled. I wanted to fulfil my commitment but it’s time for me to move on,” said Aikman.

As per the sources, the reason behind the delay in Aikman’s salary was a rift between the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and PHF.

PHF General Secretary Haider Hussain expressed his disappointment over Aikman’s decision while accepting that nothing was being paid to the head coach.

He also claimed that he contacted the PSB regarding this matter on a number of occasions but the board did not take any action to resolve the issue.

It is worth mentioning here that PHF appointed Siegfried Aikman as Pakistan’s head coach in December 2021 for a five-year-long contract.

The Dutch has previously served as coach of the Japanese team, which stunned the world by winning the Asian Games title in 2018.

LAHORE: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Thursday appointed the renowned Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans as the consultant to their national team for the Junior Asia Cup 2023. 

According to PHF, Oltamans has been contracted for the Junior Asia Cup only which is scheduled to take place between May 23 and June 1 in Salalah, Oman.

The 68-year-old has previously coached Pakistan national hockey team twice in the past in 2003 and 2018.

Besides Oltmans, the coaching panel also includes Olympian Hanif Khan (manager), Adnan Zakir International, Olympian Mudassar Ali Khan, Asif Ahmed Khan International, Olympian Zeeshan Ashraf, Rana Zubair (drag flickers coach) and Mazhar Abbas International (goalkeepers coach).

It is pertinent to mention here a total of 10 teams, split into two pools, will be competing in the upcoming Junior Asia Cup.

Pool A comprises Pakistan, India, Japan, Thailand, and Chinese Taipei, while Pool B consists of Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

Pakistan play their opening match against Chinese Taipei on May 23 before facing Thailand on May 24, India on May 27 and Japan on May 29.

The tournament serves as the qualifying round for the Junior Hockey World Cup 2023 as the top three teams from Junior Asia Cup will qualify for the megaevent in Malaysia later this year.

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Pakistan men’s hockey player Hanan Shahid secured a major achievement to his credit as he was named the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Emerging player of the Year on Friday. 

According to the details, Lahore-hailed Hanan clinched the prestigious award at AHF Congress in Korea for his outstanding performances in Men’s Junior Asia Cup, Men’s Asia Cup 2022 and other events.

The youngster was also named the AHF Athletes Ambassador.

It may be noted here that Hanan is the son of former Pakistan hockey international Mohammad Shahid.

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ABBOTTABAD: Eminent Olympic champion and World Cup winner Lala Fazal-ur-Rehman, popularly known as Billa Lala, passed away here on Thursday. He was 84.

Fazal-ur-Rehman, who made his international debut for Pakistan in 1965 against Indonesia, went on to become a legend of the game as he enjoyed a prolific career, decorated with two gold medals and a silver.

Fazal represented Pakistan in two Olympics in 1968 and 1972 and had the honour of winning the gold medal for his nation in his first and a silver in his second global event.

Meanwhile, Fazal also partook in the inaugural Hockey World Cup in 1971 and won the second gold of his iconic career.

The funeral prayers of the legendary hockey player will be offered at Banda Phagwarian here on Friday.

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Sports Board on Monday constituted a five-member committee to carry out the performance audit of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for the period between 2015 and 2022. 

As per the details, former team manager and Olympian Khawaja Junaid, who recently received a lifetime ban from the PHF, has been named a member of the committee led by the Director General (DG) PSB.

Olympians Akhtar Rasool,  Islah-ud-din Siddique and Shahnaz Sheikh are the other three members on the committee.

According to the notification issued by the PSB, a copy of which is available with ARY News, the committee will evaluate the performance of the PHF as per the PHF constitution 2015, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the PHF as a national sports federation covered in the PSB constitution.

The committee will prepare its report on the performance of the national hockey team for the period of August 2015 to May 2022, the notification added.

The committee will submit its reports within 60 days.

It is pertinent to mention here that PHF imposed a life ban on Junaid last week following an inquiry into the Pakistan team’s costly error during the Asia Cup match against Japan in 2022 when the green shirts fielded 12 players instead of 11.

“Pakistan faced a lot of embarrassment due to Khawaja Junaid. Due to his misconduct, Pakistan failed to qualify for the World Cup,” PHF had said.

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LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Tuesday imposed a lifetime ban on former team manager and Olympian Khawaja Junaid.

According to the PHF, the decision was made by the inquiry committee, founded to investigate the Pakistan team’s costly error during the Asia Cup match against Japan in 2022 when the green shirts fielded 12 players instead of 11.

Due to the blunder, the national team had a crucial goal disallowed against Japan and ended up on the losing side, which, consequently seized Pakistan’s expedition to qualify for the World Cup.

Notably, Pakistan needed to make it to the Super Fours of the continental event but could only finish fifth in the six-team tournament after beating Bangladesh in the rankings match.

Meanwhile, in an official statement, PHF stated that Junaid’s blunder resulted in Pakistan facing embarrassment, while the decision to ban him is in line with the Federation of International Hockey (FIH) guidelines.

“Pakistan faced a lot of embarrassment due to Khawaja Junaid. Due to his misconduct, Pakistan failed to qualify for the World Cup,” said PHF.

“The decision to ban him has been taken in line with FIH rules,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the federation also confirmed that PHF President Khalid Sajjad Khokhar also approved the decision of banning Junaid as his mistake was irredeemable.

“The committee called Khawaja Junaid but he did not come. The misconduct of Khawaja Junaid is unforgivable,” said PHF.

“In the light of the inquiry committee’s report, after the approval of PHF President Brigadier R. Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, Khawaja Junaid has been banned for life. Khawaja Junaid will not be able to participate in any hockey activity,” the statement concluded.

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BHUBANESWAR: Germany came from 2-0 behind to overcome defending champions Belgium and win the hockey World Cup on Sunday in a dramatic see-saw final ending in a sudden death shootout.

Belgium went ahead in the first quarter in Bhubaneswar, India with Florent Van Aubel collecting the ball after a deflection and smashing it powerfully into the backboard.

Moments later Tanguy Cosyns doubled Belgium’s lead, collecting a neat cross in front of the German goal for an easy tap-in. Germany reviewed the goal decision but it stood.

Early in the second quarter Belgium’s keeper Vincent Vanasch saved a penalty stroke but just before half-time Niklas Wellen got one back for Germany.

Germany then scored through Gonzalo Peillat to make it 2-2 and in the final period captain Mats Grambusch squeezed a shot between Vanasch’s legs to go ahead 3-2.

But with under two minutes remaining, Belgium’s Tom Boon equalised from a penalty corner, taking the game into a shootout. This went to sudden death and Germany won 5-4.

Belgium “is a world-class team… They have so much quality. We knew it would be a huge clash against them,” Wellen, named player of the match, said afterwards.

“If you come back from two goals down three times in a row, it’s not luck. It’s our quality, it’s our mentality. And we showed that again today,” he said.

Belgium hockey’s golden generation were hoping to win their second World Cup in a row, after cruising into the final despite having the tournament’s oldest side.

Their passage to the final included a shootout victory over the Netherlands in the semi-finals and a 2-0 thumping of New Zealand in the quarters. On their way to the final Germany beat England and then Australia.

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LAHORE: Pakistan Hockey team is set to miss a golden opportunity to mark a comeback in the Olympics Games as Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has been unable to send the team to the upcoming FIH Nations Cup due to a severe lack of funds.

According to the sources, the governing body of the country’s national sports has not received any funding despite making numerous requests to the higher authorities and even the Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif.

Meanwhile, the ministry of Inter-Provincial Harmony is awaiting directions from the PM secretariat in this regard.

Earlier, premier Shehbaz had congratulated the national hockey team for securing the bronze medal in the recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup in Malaysia.

Pakistan Hockey squad is supposed to depart for South Africa on November 22 to participate in the inaugural FIH Nations Cup, but the federation does not have adequate funds to purchase tickets and arrange accommodation for the contingent.

However, if Pakistan fails to feature in the event, FIH could take severe action against the side which includes a team ban and up to 15 thousand Euros worth of penalty.

It is important to note here that FIH Nations Cup provides a chance for promotion to the  FIH Pro League. The winning teams from the FIH Hockey Nations Cup, men’s and women’s, will be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League for the 2023-24 season.

Whereas, The FIH Pro League champions in 2023-24 and 2024-25 will earn direct qualification to their respective 2026 Hockey World Cups. The winners in 2025-26 and 2026-27 will then qualify for the 2028 Olympics.

The FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup will be contested between eight teams split into two pools from November 28 to  December 4 in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Pakistan are placed in Pool A alongside France, Ireland and hosts South Africa. Meanwhile, Canada, Japan, Korea and Malaysia are part of Pool B.

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IPOH: Pakistan hockey team ended their Sultan Azlan Shah Cup campaign on a high note as they held off Japan 5-3 to finish in the top three for the first time after 11 years.

The national side, clinched the bronze medal as they beat Japan in the third-four placing game on Wednesday.

The Green Shirts earned their first medal in the championship after a long hiatus of over a decade. Previously, they claimed the second position and won a silver medal back in 2011.

Kentaro Fukuda scored the opener for Japan in the ninth minute but Pakistan Hanan Shahid neutralized the lead in the next minute with a superb field goal.

Pakistan dominated the opponents in the second quarter as Arbaz Ahmed netted the ball on a penalty corner in the 17th minute before Rooman took the lead to 3-1, four minutes clear of half-time.

After Yuma Nagai cut Pakistan’s advantage to one goal in the 30th minute, Rooman scored his second goal four minutes later to wrestle to take Green Shirts at ease.

In the last quarter, Japan made an excellent comeback as Nagai clawed in with another field goal in the 49th minute before Pakistan’s Abdul Rana sailed his side home.

It is worth mentioning here that Umer-Bhutta led side finished in the fourth position in the round-robin stage of the tournament featuring six teams.

The final of the event will be held today between the hosts Malaysia and Korea on November 10 (Thursday).

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IPOH: Pakistan hockey team clinched their first victory in the ongoing six-team Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Monday as they beat Egypt 4-1 in their last game of the round-robin stage. 

After two defeats and two draws in the first four matches, the Umar Bhutta-led national side has already lost its contention for the title.

Rana Abdul Wahid opened the scoring for the Green Shirts with a penalty stroke in the 12th minute before Muhammad Sufyan Khan doubled the lead in the second quarter on a penalty corner.

Men in Green aggravated their attack in the third quarter as Liaquat Arshad scored a superb field goal in the 38th minute before Sufyan hit the nets for the second time within the next five minutes to steer the side to a dominant 4-0 lead in the game.

For Egypt, Mohamed Ragab scored a consoling goal on a penalty corner in the 50th minute. 

Following their lone win of the tournament, Pakistan finished in fourth after the conclusion of the round-robin stage and will now take on Japan in the 3rd-4th placing match on November 9 (Wednesday).

Meanwhile, Korea will face the hosts Malaysia in the final on November 10 (Thursday).

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