Hockey Archives

Dominant Pakistan sweep Bangladesh in Hockey series

DHAKA: Dominant Pakistan thrashed Bangladesh 10-3 in the final game of the three-match qualifier series here at the Maulana Bhashani Stadium on Sunday.

Pakistan had already secured a spot in the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in Belgium after registering two dominant wins in their play-off series against Bangladesh.

The Hockey World Cup Qualifiers 2026 will take place from February 28 to March 8, 2026.

The Green Shirts remained dominant throughout the series, sweeping the hosts with comprehensive wins in all three matches.

In the final game, Pakistan put in a commendable performance, netting five goals in the first half, whereas Bangladesh managed to score only one.

The dominance continued till the end as the visitors doubled the goals and eventually outplayed them to seal an emphatic win.

Sufyan Khan was named the Top Scorer of the Tournament, while Ammad Butt was given the Best Player of the Tournament award due to his attacking game during the three-match series.

Earlier, Pakistan secured victories in the opening two games of the series with margins of 8-2 and 8-0 respectively.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

It is noteworthy to mention that the series was initiated by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) after Pakistan was unable to travel to India for the Asia Cup in August and September due to strained political relations between the two neighboring countries.

Pakistan hockey team’s next assignment will be its maiden appearance in the FIH Pro League. The tournament is scheduled to kick off next month in Argentina.

The seventh edition of the competition will feature nine teams: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Spain, and Pakistan, with Ireland relegated after finishing last in the previous season.

The highlight of the season will undoubtedly be the clash between Pakistan and arch-rivals India, set to take place in London on June 23 and 26, 2026.

Pakistan will begin their campaign in Rosario, Argentina, where they face the Netherlands on December 10, followed by hosts Argentina on December 12. The Green Shirts will play 16 matches in total across four international legs.

Their second assignment takes them to Hobart, Australia, in February, where they go head-to-head with the hosts and Germany.

In June, Pakistan will feature in the European leg of the tournament with fixtures against Belgium and Spain in Wavre, before moving to London for the final round against England and India.

READ: Harmer stars as South Africa stun India in low-scoring Test

Paris Olympics 2024 hockey qualifiers shifted from Pakistan to Oman

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced that the men’s FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers for the Paris Summer Olympics 2024, which is scheduled to take place from January 15 to 21, is shifted from Pakistan to Oman.

The hosting rights of Hockey Olympic Qualifiers were taken away from Pakistan considering the recent suspensions of several Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) officials by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) in August. Moreover, PSB has also mandated fresh unbiased elections to be held within PHF.

Meanwhile, the other men’s qualifying tournaments of the Paris Olympics, which were scheduled to take place in Lahore will now be hosted by Valencia, Spain and Muscat, Oman.

A total of eight teams will feature in each of the Paris 2024 hockey qualifying tournaments, and the top three teams will qualify for the Paris 2024 Games, making a total of 12 teams per gender.

The seedings for the Olympic qualifiers will be finalized after the conclusion of all continental championships in 2023, moreover, the champions of these continental championships will directly qualify for Paris Olympics 2024.

The Netherlands and Australia have already booked their place for next year’s Summer Olympics after winning the EuroHockey Championship 2023 and the Oceania Cup respectively.

Meanwhile, one of the two women’s qualifying tournaments will be also hosted by Valencia and the other will take place in Changzhou, China. The women’s hockey qualifiers for the Paris Olympics will also follow the same format as the men’s qualifiers.

The hockey competition at the Paris Olympics 2024 will take place from July 27 to August 9, 2024, at Yves-du-Manoir stadium.

READ: Virender Sehwag wants ‘Afghanistan to upset Pakistan’

Hockey Olympian Abdul Waheed passes away

KARACHI: Hockey Olympian Abdul Waheed Khan passed away at 85 due to sudden health deterioration.

According to Waheed’s son Faisal, his father was taken to the hospital after his health got deteriorated suddenly. “Father’s health condition deteriorated suddenly and we took him to hospital. But on reaching the hospital, we got to know that he was expired earlier,” he shared while adding that he was a patient of blood pressure.

It must be noted here that Waheed was part of Pakistan’s gold medalist hockey team of the 1960 Rome Olympics. He also bagged gold medal in 1962 Jakarta Asian Games.

Later on, Waheed also served as manager and coach of the national team.

READ: PHF hires foreign physical trainer for the national hockey team

“Wish hockey to rise again in Pakistan,” Punjab’s Sports Minister

LAHORE: Sports Minister Punjab, Rai Taimoor Khan had a meeting with Pakistan Hockey Team travelling to Bangladesh.

In the meeting with the national hockey team, Mr Rai Taimoor encouraged the players and ensured to reward them.

“Pakistan has high hopes for you,” Minister said.

Mr Rai Taimoor is hopeful for the revival of the national sport۔

“We hope Pakistan’s national sport hockey, rise again. The country’s first High-performance center will be built soon in Lahore,” he concluded.

READ: “Goal is to bring ‘Kamyab Jawan Heroes’ to forefront in next two years,” Usman Dar

Argentina knock out Pakistan from Junior Hockey World Cup

BHUBANESWAR: Argentina defeated Pakistan by 4-3 to make it to the quarter-finals of the ongoing Junior Hockey World Cup here at Kalinga Hockey Stadium on Sunday.

Argentina launched an attack on Pakistan from the very start as Capurro Bautista struck the first goal in the tenth minute of the game.However, in the 17th minute, Rana Abdul Waheed scored for Pakistan to make the scores level (1-1). In reply, Nardolillo Ignacio scored a goal in the 20th minute to take a 2-1 lead for Argentina. However, in the 28th minute, Rizwan Ali scored for Pakistan to level the scores again (2-2).

In the 30th minute, Ruiz Francisco scored for Argentina to take the lead (3-2) and in the 47th minute, Ibarra Ignacio scored the overall fourth goal for Argentina and extended their lead even more to 4-2.

Aqeel Ahmed scored the third goal from Pakistan in the 53rd minute but could not go further to avoid the lead. And, in the end, Argentina finished with the scoreboard read 4-3.

Rana Waheed, Rizwan Ali and Aqeel scored one goal each for Pakistan. Green shirts scored 2 goals on penalty corner and one on penalty stroke.

Pakistan will face the United States for event ranking, in the next match. The match will be played on November 30 at 1:00 PM (Pakistan time).

READ: Pakistan beat Egypt by 3-1 in Junior Hockey World Cup

Pakistan team undergoes COVID-19 tests before Junior Hockey World Cup

LAHORE: Pakistan’s squad underwent COVID-19 tests before their departure to India for Junior Hockey World Cup.

The 23-member national squad was tested for COVID-19 here at National Hockey Stadium on Thursday. The team’s doctor Asad Abbas Shah supervised the testing process. The players and management will be allowed to travel after returning negative in their COVID-19 tests.

Pakistan will play their warm-up games in the mega event against Chili and Canada on November 21 and 22 respectively. The Green Shirts will play their first match in the mega event against Germany on November 24.

SQUAD

Rana Abdul Waheed (C), Waqar, Aqeel Ahmed, Rizwan Ali, Moin Shakeel, Adeel Latif, Mohammad Hamad-ud-din, Abdul Hannan, Gazanfar Ali, Umair Sattar, Abdullah Ishtiaq, Mohibullah, Abuzar, Mohsin Hasan, Abdul Mannan, Abdur Rehman, Roman Khan, Mohammad Abdullah.

Senior, junior hockey players vaccinated against COVID-19

LAHORE: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) completed COVID-19 vaccination of its senior and junior players here at National Hockey Stadium.
According to the PHF, 30 senior players received their second dose of vaccination whilst 42 junior players received their second jab against the widely-spread virus.
On this occasion, PHF’s secretary Asif Bajwa visited the vaccination center. “We took this step to save our players from this virus. We cooperate with the government in this tough time and urge people to follow COVID-19 SoPs,” he said.

Tag: Hockey