Pakistan

Hosts Pakistan will be looking for glory when the elite six-nation Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament gets underway at the National Hockey Stadium here on Saturday (today). The opening day contests will be played between New Zealand v defending champions Netherlands, India v Spain and hosts Pakistan v world champions Germany.

Pakistan have hosted the Champions Trophy, which they initiated in 1978, ten times. Pakistan were originally scheduled to stage the 2001 edition which was relocated to the Netherlands in the wake of September 11 attacks on the United States and the subsequent war in neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistan last won the Champions Trophy at Lahore in 1994 – the same year they won the World Cup.

Eight times Olympic champions India, who finished seventh at the Athens Olympics, made it to the trophy only after Olympic champions Australia pulled out over security fears. India’s unexpected participation in the event has delighted the organisers. “The regret of not having the Olympic champions will remain, but there is no doubt that India’s presence has added colour and charm to the event,” Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Musarratullah Khan told media. India and Pakistan will clash next Wednesday in the round robin league in which each team plays the other once before the final on December 12.

Organisers have thrown the gates open for the nine-day event to attract maximum crowds at the 70,000-capacity National Hockey Stadium, and India’s presence will only help matters. “The stage for attracting sponsorships and other revenues for the Champions Trophy was laid by the bilateral series between Pakistan and India three months ago,” said PHF marketing director Naveed Haider. “India is a more sought-after team than Australia, so it could prove a blessing for us,” maintained Haider.

The Netherlands, eyeing a hat-trick of Champions Trophy titles, are tipped as favourites among the top contenders. “We will try to do the hat-trick,” said Dutch captain Jeroen Delmee. But the Dutch captain is under no illusion that a finals spot is a formality. “Winning will be a difficult task because Pakistan and Spain are really favourites to win the tournament,” Delmee said. “Then you don’t know what to expect from other teams. Germany have a new team, I don’t know how good they play. I don’t know how many new players India have so I think it will be an interesting tournament.”

Pakistan manager Samiullah is of the view that India’s participation is a boost for Asian hockey. “With two Asian teams playing, the world will be able to see the best of our traditional attacking style of hockey,” said Sami. Pakistan’s world record goal-scorer Sohail Abbas said he would face increased pressure in front of a home crowd. Abbas, with 268 goals, broke Dutchman Paul Litjens’ record of 267 goals at last month’s eight-match series against archrival India. “I think people expect me to score all the time which is not fair,” he said.

Pakistan’s Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans, who returns to his home country as head coach next month, described the Champions Trophy as the toughest tournament in world hockey. “Every match is like final because this is the toughest competition in the game,” Oltmans said. He stressed that all the other five competitors were equal in strength. “I cannot consider any particular side as formidable.”

The Pakistan captain is optimistic and hoping to overcome inconsistency in the tournament. “We have been struggling for the last couple of years to win Champions Trophy and now we are at the threshold of another opportunity and we hope that our team will show consistency to get the desired results,” said Muhammad Waseem. “Efforts have been made to strengthen the weak areas which let us down in a number of tournaments including Olympics in Athens where we lost,” he added.

Waseem said the coach had worked really hard on the team to boost defence, to unite forwards in demanding situations and in counter attacks, to improve fitness level and to build up pressure. “It is not easy to overcome all ailing factors in a short time but we did our best to train and motivate the players who are in high spirits to take a fresh start leaving behind sour memories.” He said total reliance on home ground and crowd for lifting the performance of the team was a wrong perception as much depended on players who must perform well to outwit their rivals.

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