KARACHI, 20 July 2007 — It was like shooting ducks in a barrel. Pakistan thrashed underdogs Scotland 4-0 in the final of a four-nation invitational hockey tournament in Moscow to claim the title.
Nobody could have predicted any other result. Record four-time world champions Pakistan, currently ranked No. 5 in the world were head and shoulders above the other competing teams that included international hockey minnows Russia and Ukraine and predictably reached the final with hardly a fuss. However, they did get a bit of a scare in the league stages of the four-day tournament when Scotland, ranked 17 places below them, held them to a 2-2 draw in an evenly-contested game.
The players and the team management is basking in the glory of the title-winning triumph and is now terming the massacre of the innocent as a boost for hockey in Pakistan. But is a title that came after beating teams like Scotland, Russia and Ukraine, who are not even ranked among the top-20, worthy enough for any kind of celebration? Actually, it is hard to comprehend the logic behind sending a full-strength Pakistan team to a lowly event like the Moscow quadrangular at a time when Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) officials are trying to save money by pulling their team out of the prestigious Asia Cup. Pakistan will not be competing in the continental event to be held in the South Indian city of Chennai in September because the PHF figured out that it would end up spending too much money in sending their squad to neighboring India. The decision was endorsed by the team management which thought that the players were not good enough to play against teams like India, Korea, Malaysia and China — all ranked below Pakistan in the world ranking.
Team manager Islahuddin Siddiqui thought that it would be a good idea to shield his team from stronger opponents and instead opted to field it in the Moscow tournament that featured three of world hockey’s weakest teams. He believes that winning a contest or two would help lift the morale of a team ‘that hasn’t won any international title in recent years’. I believe he has forgotten that Pakistan lifted the eight-nation Rabo Trophy crown in the Netherlands in 2005. The tournament involved some of the best teams in the world. Pakistan have also claimed the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup title in recent years.
Islah, regarded among the legends of Pakistan hockey, likes to portray Pakistan as a team that has been losing against almost all teams in recent years. To some extent it may be true, but Pakistan have also been winning matches against top teams like Olympic champions Australia and Holland.
It is true that Pakistan have lost to teams like China (Asian Games semifinals last December) but that doesn’t means that the hockey administrators actually start working from a scratch and make their team play against some of the weakest sides in the world. I mean, Pakistan are still ranked No. 5 in the world are rated as Asia’s best team in the current world hockey rankings.
Pakistan should be underlining that fact by trying to win the Asia Cup instead of riding roughshod against teams that are ranked No. 22 (Scotland), No. 41 (Russia) and No. 45 (Ukraine).
In fact, it wasn’t really a cakewalk for Pakistan even in Moscow as they were held to a draw by the Scots. Well, the problem is that if you aim for too low then there are chances that you might hit rock bottom.
The most ironic part of the entire story is that Pakistani hockey officials are terming the Moscow title as a big step in the right direction.
Team coach Rasheed-ul-Hassan recently termed the victory as a ‘ray of hope’. How can Islah and Rasheed, two of the greatest players of their era, justify such praise for their team which only achieved one of the easiest jobs ever given to a leading hockey team? These former Olympians should be working on strategies that can help Pakistan beat top teams like Germany and Australia or for that matter Korea — a side that has emerged as the most successful Asian team in recent years.
If Pakistan really were desperate to play against Russia or Ukraine and if the PHF had money to burn, they could have sent the junior outfit to Moscow because even our colts would have won the four-nation event there.
