Category: Hockey

LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) released the sporting calendar for 2022, which includes six international and seven domestic events.

International events in the sporting year 2022 include six events including Asia Cup, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games.

Whereas, seven domestic events are part of the sports calendar, including the women’s senior and junior hockey championships.

PHF also announced four training workshops, planned to build the capacity of umpires, coaches and technical officials.

Furthermore, Inter-school championships including inter-school hockey championships and All-Pakistan tournament are also part of the sporting calendar.

Secretary-General PHF Asif Bajwa released PHF Sports Calendar for 2022, while President PHF Brigadier Khalid Sajjad Khokhar approved the calendar.

READ: PSL 7 opening ceremony to follow COVID-19 protocols: Sources

KARACHI: With the year 2021 coming to an end, let’s have a look at the top events from the major sports in Pakistan.

Pakistan created history by defeating India in ICC World Cup

It was undoubtedly a remarkable year for the Green Shirts. The men in green set various records and made history. The most prominent event was Pakistan beating India for the first time in a World cup face off.

On 24th October 2021, the two arch-rivals came face to face in their first match of the ICC WT20. Shaheen Shah’s Afridi’s brutal spell, early on, set the tone for the side; helping Pakistan to restrict India for 151/7. Later, it was all Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan’s show. The pair put on an unbeaten partnership of 152, assisted Pakistan to beat India by 10 wickets.

The side then had an unbeaten run in the group stage, which was then broken by the latter WT20 champions, Australia. The kangaroos defeated the green shirts by five wickets in the second Semi-final.

In 2021, Pakistan also recorded the highest number of victories in T20Is in a calendar year; winning 20 matches.

A frustrating year for the National sport

Pakistan had yet again a disappointing end to a year in the national sport. The green shirts participated in two major events – Junior Hockey World Cup and Asian Hockey Champions Trophy.

In the Junior World Cup, the green shirts were knocked out by Argentina in the group stage; losing the match by 3-4. The side then played several ranking matches, and after beating Poland 5-0, Pakistan managed to finish the tournament with 11th position.

Pakistan did not fare well in the Asian Champions Trophy as well. In the entire tournament, the Green Shirts only won one game against Bangladesh. In the competition, Pakistan met arch-rival India twice, and the men in blue thrashed Pakistan both times. Pakistan finished the tournament; securing the fourth position.

Yet another dark year for football in Pakistan

In April 2021, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) banned the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect; citing the ‘undue third-party influence’.

Following this ban by FIFA, Pakistan’s national and club teams were not able to compete in international competitions.

Talib, Nadeem glimmered ray of hope for Olympic glory

In Tokyo Olympics, Pakistan’s Javelin-thrower – Arshad Nadeem sharpened the hope of a rare Olympic medal. In the Group-B stage, the athlete topped the ranking chart, however, remained unlucky in the final stage. The athlete could not deliver on the final stage and finished at the fifth position. India’s Neeraj Chopra won the Gold-medal.

Similarly, Pakistan’s weightlifter – Talha Talib narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal. The 21-year-old from Gujranwala gave his growing number of fans back home a glimmer of hope; topping Clean & Jerk. But he too remained unlucky in the final stage and also finished with the fifth rank.

Inam Butt injects new energy to Pakistan’s Wrestling arena

Pakistan’s professional wrestler – Inam Butt became the first Pakistani athlete to win Gold-medal in the Beach wrestling world series twice. Butt secured victory by beating his Ukrainian opponent by 3-0 in the final.

The wrestler then could not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Butt, however, blamed the government for not qualifying for the global event. According to the wrestler, he did not receive a single penny from the government. He also claimed that if he could participate in the 2019 World Wrestling Championship, he would have qualified for the Olympics.

DHAKA: Arch-rival India defeated Pakistan by 4-3, in the 3rd/4th position match of the ongoing Asian Hockey Champions Trophy, on Wednesday.

The joint defending champions, India and Pakistan clashed for the second time in the ongoing Champions trophy for the third position match, as both the sides crashed out of the tournament after a semi-final defeat.

India launched an attack right from the start, Harmanpreet Singh scored the first goal of the match for the men in blue in the first quarter.

Soon after, Pakistan’s Afraz Hakeem equalized the score. The scores remain tied at 1-1, till the half time.

In the second half, Pakistan’s Rana Abdul Waheed scored the second goal for the Green shirts; handing his side a lead. However, the lead only lasted a few minutes, as India’s Sumit Walmiki leveled the scores with a brilliant strike.

In the third quarter, India took the lead; with Varun Kumar scoring the third goal for his side. A few minutes later, the men in blue extended their lead; with Akashdeep Singh striking for his side this time.

Pakistan’s Ahmed Nadeem, however, retaliated; scoring a magnificent goal. The green shirts, in the end, failed to level the scores, and India won by a margin of one goal.

READ: India lose 3-5 to Japan, to face Pakistan in third-place playoffs

DHAKA: Japan beat India by 5-3 after a scintillating semi-final contest of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy here on Tuesday.

In the second final of the tournament, India faced a crushing defeat by Japan, who defeated the side; scoring five goals in response to India’s three.

Japan launched an attack on India, from the very start; scoring the first goal of the match in the opening minute. Shota Yamada was the striker. Furthermore, in the second minute, Japan extended their lead; with Raiki Fujishama scoring the second goal of the match.

In the 17th minute, however, Indian player, Dilpreet Singh showed fightback; scoring the first goal for his side. But, Japan extended their lead to 3-1 in the 29th minute with another brilliant strike. At half-time, Japan was leading by 3-1 against the defending champions.

In the second half of the game, India looked to make a comeback; scoring two goals, but, Japan, too, scored as many goals in the remaining half of the game, thus, winning the game by 5-2 in the allotted time.

Japan will now face South Korea in the event’s final, whereas, the joint defending champions, India and Pakistan will square off again in the third-place playoff tomorrow at 2:30 PM (PKT). The final of the event will commence at 5:00 PM (PKT).

READ: South Korea beat Pakistan in Asian Hockey Champions Trophy

DHAKA: South Korea beat Pakistan by 6-5 after an exciting semi-final contest of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy here on Tuesday. 

In a nail-biting contest, both teams counter attacked opponent’s goal posts after regular intervals. Searching for a goal in last 10 minutes while the scoreboard read 5-5, South Korea managed to score a goal in crunch moment.

South Korea’s drag flicker Chang scored a hat-trick and netted the ball for four times. He bagged man-of-the-match award.

For Pakistan, Mubashir Ali scored two goals while Umar Bhutta, Afraz and Junaid Manzoor shared a goal apiece.

In second semi-final of the event today, India and Japan will lock horns. Pakistan will play against the losing side of second semi-final in third position match tomorrow.

DHAKA: Pakistan Men’s Hockey team defeated the hosts Bangladesh by the score of 6-2, in their last round match; qualified for the Semi-finals of the ongoing Asian Hockey Champions Trophy.

The Green shirts put on a show in their last round match against the hosts, thumping them by 6-2. Aijaz Ahmed and Ahmed Nadeem each scored two goals for the team green.

Pakistan will now face South Korea in the semi-final, whereas, India will lock horns with Japan in their knockout fixture.

The final of the event will take place on 22nd December, 2021.

READ: Pakistan end 3-3 draw against South Korea in Asian Champions Trophy

DHAKA: Pakistan played a 3-3 draw against South Korea in their third match of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy here on Saturday. 

In a closely-finished contest, both teams displayed competitive skills to counter-attack on opponents.

Pakistan’s Afraz scored the opening goal for his team who equalized the score 1-1 in 24th minute. South Korea’s Kim Kyubeom scored first goal in 14th minute. Rana Abdul Waheed took lead by injecting second goal for Pakistan in 33rd minute.

Thereafter, South Korea came up with back-to-back goals to make it 3-2. But, Pakistan made the most of Penalty Corner in 57th minute to level the score 3-3.

With this result, Pakistan held two draws against South Korea and Japan followed by a defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India. They managed the fourth position after playing three matches so far in a six-team tournament.

The Green Shirts will next play against Bangladesh tomorrow.

READ: Arch-rival India beat Pakistan 3-1 in Asian Hockey Champions Trophy

DHAKA: Pakistan’s arch-rival, India defeated the side by 3-1 in the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy’s round match, today.

Pakistan and India collided for the first time in the championship’s round stage, India turned out on top; defeating the Green Shirts by 3-1 in the allotted time.

For India, Harmanpreet Singh scored two goals; including the first goal of the match. Whereas, Akashdeep Singh scored one for his side.

Green shirts, on the other hand, could only score one goal in response to India’s three; losing their first ever round match against their arch-rivals.

For Pakistan, only Junaid Manzoor, could only score a goal.

Pakistan and India, are the joint defending champions of the title, moreover, both Pakistan and India, have also won the title most number of times; with being crowned the champions, three time each.

READ: Pakistan to face India in Asian Hockey Champions Trophy, tomorrow

DHAKA: Defending champions, Pakistan and India, to square off against each other, in the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy’s round match, tomorrow.

The joint defending champions will face each other for the first time in a round match of the championship.

The match between the arch-rivals, is expected to be a thriller; with Pakistan team combined with junior and senior players, while India will be taking the ground with their regular team.

Muhammad Abdullah, Aqeel Ahmed, Afraz, Ahmed Nadeem and Salman Razzaq are among the players, who have been included in the Pakistan Hockey Team for the first time from the junior team.

Both, Pakistan and India, have also won the title most number of times; with being crowned the champions, three time each.

The match will commence at 02:30 PM (PKT), tomorrow.

The Indian hockey team is ranked third in the world rankings, while Pakistan are at 18th position.

READ: Pakistan-Japan match ends in a draw

DHAKA: Pakistan and Japan were held to a 0-0 draw in their first match of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy.

Pakistan’s first outing of the event could not conclude result as both the teams failed to score a goal.

Pakistan’s goalkeeper, Mazhar Arshad, adjudged as the Man of the match for his brilliant performance.

Recently, the goal keeper faced the visa issuance problem and joined the squad late, yesterday.

READ: Senior Goalkeepers set to join the squad in Bangladesh