JEDDAH, 5 April — The Pakistan hockey team has a lot of talent which needs to be nurtured and provided the right training to do well in the international arena, according to former captain and Olympian Manzoorul Hassan.

Manzoor, a rock-solid back who also served the country as coach/manager after retirement, said the team’s performance at the last World Cup in Kuala Lumpur could have been better.

"It was sheer bad luck. The team started so well but could not maintain the tempo," Manzoor told Arab News here recently while discussing the state of affairs of the game in Pakistan.

"The turning point came when we lost to Argentina. The loss demoralized the team," he added.

Manzoor, Pakistan International Airlines’ station manager in Jeddah said the team had prepared well for the World Cup. "Yes, the World Cup preparations were definitely good. But we must remember that in hockey today, unlike the past, there are no weak teams. And the playing conditions remain the same all over the world. So no team has any advantage over others," he explained.

Talking about the recent change of manager, coaches and selectors, Manzoor said the Pakistan Hockey Federation had every right to name anybody as manager or coach but they should avoid appointing current players to any post. "In this regard I will give the example of cricket in which Javed Miandad was named the coach while the team had players who had played with him. Everyone knows what happened in the case of Miandad. PHF should learn a lesson from that," Manzoor said.

In another development, Manzoor said this year’s Haj operation of PIA was a bigger success than last year. "PIA transported 91,599 Hajis through 242 flights. Of these 124 flights operated ahead of schedule, saving 49 hours and 36 minutes with a punctuality rate of 98.4 percent as against 96 percent last year," he said.

Manzoor attributed the success to a "spirit of teamwork" by the engineering and marketing departments and the scouts who came from Pakistan, under the guidance of PIA Managing Director Chowdhury Ahmad Saeed, Chief Operating Officer Khurshid Anwar, Airport Services Department chief M. Ijaz Haroon and newly arrived Jeddah-based General Manager Salim Nisar.

He said the airline collected excess baggage from the pilgrims which was 140 percent above last year’s. "By the grace of Allah, this year’s Haj operation was an unqualified success and we are already looking ahead for next year’s pilgrimage," Manzoor added.