It was Pakistan’s title-winning triumph in the Asian Games – their first in twenty years – that has forced the ex-Olympians to silence their guns and enable the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to look ahead to the future with a lot of hope.

After a series of false starts, Pakistan hockey has finally moved to the right track. Their Asian Games success should catapult Pakistan back to the elite group of world hockey where they truly belong.

With more than a year and a half to go before London hosts Olympic Games 2012, Pakistan have enough time to prepare for what should be their next big target.

Winning a gold medal is no mean feat but the biggest reward for Pakistan is that they have clinched an automatic berth for the London Games, a fact that should boost their morale and give them a head start in the lead up to the quadrennial showpiece.

Now that things are settling down after the hype and hoopla of the national team’s gold-medal victory in Guangzhou, its time to look beyond what is easily one of Pakistan’s biggest hockey achievements in recent times.

Pakistan hockey needed their team to win the Asian Games gold for a variety of reasons.

Since the 1994 World Cup triumph in Sydney, Pakistan had been unable to win any of the major international titles. Their performance at the world level was getting worse with each passing year. In recent times, it had touched rock bottom.

Pakistan failed to reach the semifinals in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and then flopped miserably in the Beijing Olympiad two years ago. But the most shocking result came at this year’s World Cup in March when Pakistan – four time world champions – crashed to a humiliating last-place finish in the World Cup.

For Pakistan hockey’s fast diminishing fan base, it was a result that was too hard to digest. Demonstrations were held in various cities and demands for sweeping changes in the PHF were frequently made.

A few months later, Pakistan stumbled in the Commonwealth Games and once again the venue was New Delhi where the Greenshirts were thrashed by old rivals India.

With such poor outings in 2010 behind them, Pakistan’s chance of redeeming themselves was the Asian Games. They had to win the title to wash away the tears of those embarrassing failures.

This time, they did succeed and in the process have given Pakistan hockey a new lease of life.

As Asian Games champions, Pakistan have qualified for the London Games. In time, they should also qualify for the Champions Trophy. It seems that Pakistan are finally ready to climb up the rankings’ ladder again.

Hockey supporters have already started talking about Pakistan’s hopes of regaining the Olympic and world title.

It’s certainly not impossible. But to say that it’s a tough task would be an understatement.

Pakistan are still lagging far behind teams like Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. There is a yawning gap between those teams and our side, which can only be bridged through a comprehensive training program in the lead up the London Games.

But before that, Pakistan’s hockey chiefs will have to take a few key decisions. The first and foremost question they have to answer and answer quickly is whether they want to stick with the senior players or opt to rebuild the team.

Hockey officials and differ on this issue. Some experts are backing the idea of retaining players like Sohail Abbas and Rehan Butt, who played a key role in Pakistan’s successful Asian Games campaign.

Others, however, believe that the seniors are in the twilight stages of their careers and should be replaced by youngsters right away so that the newcomers are given enough time to get ready for mega events like the Olympics.

Personally, I believe that Pakistan cannot afford to say goodbye to senior players like Sohail, Rehan, Salman Akber and Shakeel Abbasi at this point in time. At least, not in one go.

If you take a long, hard look at the national hockey scene, it would become quite evident that there is a big dearth of talented youngsters who are good enough to become world-class players. Unlike the past when hockey was a passion in this part of the world, the sport is not really popular any more. It won’t be easy to find suitable replacements.

Even in the early eighties when Pakistan hockey was brimming with talent, the decision to axe senior players after the 1984 Olympic gold in Los Angeles turned out to be a backbreaking one for the national game. It never really recovered from that loss.

Pakistan cannot take uncalculated risks. Axing the senior players could turn out to be really counter-productive.

But that doesn’t mean Pakistan cannot show faith in their young Turks.

They just have to strike a balance while keeping their options open.

It’s not the time to make any rigid policies. As long as a player is fit and is delivering on the field, he should stay in the team regardless of his age.

In the meantime, PHF should also invest in its junior and second-string teams. It should rotate the players and try them out in minor events, which Pakistan should feature in quite regularly during 2011, and in the first half of 2012 so that a strong and balanced team could be raised for London.

Qasim Zia, the PHF president, along with secretary Asif Bajwa will have to start working harder to find the right equation right away.

They will have to consolidate the team around them and invest more and more on development projects.

The PHF should also make all out efforts to get all stake-holders on board and try putting an end to an unnecessary tussle with our past heroes. It’s causing more harm than good.

On the coaching front, Pakistan should devise their plan carefully and then stick to it. Michel van den Heuvel was unable to inspire his team at the Commonwealth Games but bounced back in Guangzhou. The Dutchman has earned a well-deserved extension in his contract and will be at the helm of the national team till the 2010 Olympics.

It’s after a long time that things are looking good for Pakistan hockey. But there are realistic fears that with any unplanned steps Pakistan can waste this golden chance of reviving it. For the love of hockey, one hopes that it won’t happen.