x6

Pakistan

Pakistan manage 28 wins in 50 outings
By : Syed Akber Ali Wahidi

Penalty-corner expert Sohail Abbas maintained himself as annual leading scorer of Pakistan for the seventh successive year. He struck 59 goals in 2003, 42 above second-placed strikers Kashif Jawwad and Rehan Butt (17 goals each). Sohail has certainly won many fans and a high rating in his six-year international career that started with the 1998 Pak-India Series. Retired from international hockey on 12 December 2004 immediately after Pakistan-India third-place match during 26th CT at Lahore, is rated by pundits as the best PC specialist in the world.

Pakistan managed 133 goals in 50 international matches they played in 2004. Pakistan won 28 of them while they suffered 13 defeats. Nine matches were ended in draw. Pakistani defence failed to show satisfactory display and conceded 101 goals.

Pakistan started the year 2004 in somewhat satisfaction when they finished second in the 13th edition of Azlan Shah Cup staged at Kuala Lumpur from 8-18 January 2004. Under Dutch trainer Roelant Oltmans, Pakistan started the tourney in whirlwind fashion by beating Korea 4-2. Their other victories were against India (3-2), Spain (4-2) and Germany (4-3). Pakistan drew with Malaysia and Australia. The final was a thriller, ending in 4-3 win for Australia.
It was fourth time in last five years (after 1999, 2000 and 2003) that Pakistan reached the final of the annual tournament played in honor of ninth King of Malaysia (1989-94) who is also President of Asian Hockey Federation.
Pakistan’s next event was Olympic Qualifier at Madrid in March, and Pakistan made no mistake by topping their pool (13 points from 5 games) but failed to match the brilliance of Spanish team in semi-final.
Eduard Tubau, who is proving to be the nemesis for Pakistan, scored twice in Spain’s 3-2 win on 11 March 2004. It was the day when four simultaneous bomb attacks on commuter trains in Madrid killed 191 people and wounded around 1500. After a day’s rest, Pakistan thrashed India 4-2 to win bronze.

Pakistanis were unimpressive during their June-July European tour, failing to win any of the three mini tournaments. Their first stop was England where Surbiton’s Brett Garrard emerged as hero. It was Pakistan’s first assignment on their exhaustive pre-Olympic tour of Europe. Brett not only led Great Britain to victory in the tri-nations tournament held in the Midlands from 5-11 June 2004 but also picked up two personal trophies while doing so.
As well as collecting the silver salver as GB captain for winning the six-match series against Australia and Pakistan held at Cannock and Nottingham, Brett won the Vitesse Logistics' Man of the Match award in 11 June’s 2-1 win over Pakistan. The Surbiton star was also voted by members of the Hockey Writers' Club as "Player of the Tournament".
At Cannock Hockey club, GB lost the first game 4-1 to Australia. Pakistan, with former Old Georgians’s Ghazanfar Ali in their squad, then beat Australia 2-1. The third tie saw Britain coming back from 0-2 down at the interval to beat Pakistan 3-2 with Hawes scoring the equalising and winning goals from penalty corner drag flicks.
The tournament then decamped to the Highfields Hockey Centre in Nottingham for a repeat of the three games. Australia, after 1-1 draw with Britain, lost to Pakistan 2-3 ; a result that meant Great Britain had to beat the Pakistanis the following day to win the overall tournament.

Britain occupied top spot by beating Pakistan 2-1. It was for the first time in 56 years that Britain scored back-to-back victories against Pakistan. Britain beat Pakistan in London Olympics semi-finals in 1948 and also in the bronze-medal encounter at Helsinki Olympics 1952.
Pakistan suffered more frustrations, losing series 0-2 against Germany at Berlin, followed by second spot at 10th Hamburg Masters at the Uhlenhorster Hockey Club on 20 June 2004. A penalty-corner goal in injury time by Florian Kunz gave Germany a 3-2 victory over Pakistan and the title in 4-nation event. Argentina finish third, leaving Korea at the bottom in the four-nation tournament. It was Germany's third win over Pakistan in a week, having beaten the former hockey giants 3-1 and 2-1 at Berlin.
The Rabobank Four-Nation tournament in Amstelveen was dominated by European superpowers Germany and Netherlands while Pakistan and India finished third and fourth respectively.
The tournament saw Pakistan, after 0-6 defeat at the hands of Germany, routed a completely disorganized India 6-1. India, who have trained for close to three weeks at the famous Athletes' Performance Institute at Tampa in Arizona, showed no advantage of the trip to the US. Pakistan, however failed to qualify for final, losing 2-3 to Netherlands.

The final was extra-ordinary with full of goals. Mathias Witthaus emerged Germany's hero with a 66th minute goal as his side came from behind for a 5-4 win against Dutchmen in the final. Despite an early onslaught from the Dutch, who took 2-0 lead by the sixth minute, Germany held their nerve till the last minute to emerge victorious at the Wagener stadium.
The final minutes of the title clash saw some drama as Germany played with ten players after Indian umpire Satinder Kumar sent off Michael Green for a foul. But Germany warded off a desperate effort by the hosts to clinch their second title in a fortnight -- the first being the Hamburg Masters in Germany. Earlier, two goals each by Sohail Abbas and winger Rehan Butt ensured Pakistan’s 5-3 victory over India in the third place tie.

The town of Alcala la Real in Jaén province, Andalusia brought some smiles on Pakistani faces when Pakistan won the mini-show on 1 August. The three-nation tournament featured Pakistan, Argentina and Spain. Pakistan finished on top with a draw against Argentina 2-2 and a win against Spain 3-1, while Spain claimed second spot. Argentina hit rock-bottom.
Pakistan desperately needed to win the event at the town, well-known for mineral springs that was the site of a French victory in the Peninsular War, after a less than satisfactory performance during a long tour of Europe in which they lost against top rivals Britain, Germany and Netherlands.
Pakistan failed to impress in 28th Olympic Games Hockey as Australia won the gold medal for the first time in history after beating Netherlands 2-1 with a golden goal in extra time from Jamie Dwyer.
Ronald Brouwer put the Dutch ahead but Travis Brooks drew level for the Australians. With no further goals, the final went into extra-time and Jamie struck the winner from a penalty corner.
Pakistan outplayed New Zealand 4-2 to finish fifth on 27 August. Sohail, the master hitter, was in the forefront as he scored three of the four goals , becoming the top scorer with eleven goals. However, he was not among scorers when Pakistan lost to Germany 1-2 and Spain 0-4 and went out of last four at Athens, Greece.
Sohail will always remember Amritsar city in India, situated only 42 KM from Pakistan’s second largest city Lahore, after the world’s most feared drag flicker surpassed Dutchman Paul Litjens' 267-goal tally to emerge as the all-time leading goal scorer in the history of hockey.
That seventh test of the 9th Indo–Pak home and away series ensured a 2-1 win for Pakistan, and a 4-1 unassailable lead in the series. The first series between the two nations in 21st century saw both sides scoring 16 goals each in eight outings.
Pakistan, eventually, won the series 4-2, losing the last test at Hyderabad Deccan 0-2 as India salvaged some pride in the first series between the arch-rivals in five years. This was India's second win of the 2004 series after victory at Quetta.
Sohail struck seven of Pakistan’s 16 goals to finish as leading marksman.
For the record, Pakistan have won six series, India two, while the 1988 series ended in a draw.
Despite the poor showing by both the countries at Athens Olympics, the series, from 24 September to 10 October, attracted a large number of spectators. Pakistan and India have a glorious past with eleven Olympic and five world cups between them but both are now struggling to regain the past glory.

The series started with Pakistan leg as Indian hockey team, under German coach Gerard Rach, reached Pakistan amidst rousing welcomes at every venue. They opened the proceedings with 1-2 defeat at Karachi. Indian scorer was Arjun Halappa, who later finished as top scorer for India with five goals. India bounced back with emphatic 4-1 win at Quetta. Pakistan landed in India with 2-1 advantage following 3-2 win at Peshawar. The series saw two drawn games at Lahore (4-4) and Chandigarh (1-1). Pakistan also started the Indian leg also on winning note by winning New Delhi Test 3-1 and wrapped up the series at Amritsar where the 500th goal between the two countries was also registered with Sohail grabbing the honor of scoring this goal.
Pakistan threw away chances of winning gold in December’s 26th Champions Trophy when they lost 0-3 to Spain in precious encounter at Lahore’s National Hockey Stadium. Spain went on to win the prestigious annual event for the first time when they defeated holders Netherlands 4-2 in the final.
Santiago Freixa, voted the FIH Young Player of the Year 2004 two days before the final, scored two goals as Spain shattered the Dutch dream of winning a hat-trick of titles in the elite six-nation event. Pau Quemada and Victor Sojo were the other scorers for Spain, whose previous best in the annual tournament was the bronze medal at the 1997 Adelaide CT.
Taeke Taekema and Karel Klaver netted for the Dutch, who lost their Olympic title to first-time gold medallists Australia in Athens. The Australian team stayed away from CT because of security concerns.
Pakistan took the bronze for the third year in a row with a 3-2 win over India. It was Sohail Abbas’s last international and he ended his career with a goal. He fired home the missile that mattered most before bidding adieu to international hockey. Last year it was India enjoying the upper hand by winning five of the eight outings. Pakistan in 2004, with Sohail leading the charge, managed to beat India twelve times in their 16 meetings with just two losses.

Sohail, who scored 274 goals from 224 matches, also made his debut at Peshawar against India in 1998 before growing in stature as one of the most feared drag-flickers in the world. “The bronze is not the reason for my quitting the game. I wanted to quit at the peak of my prowess instead being asked to leave. The decision actually had been made much before the Lahore tourney,” said Sohail, who scored a double hat-trick and 21 hat-tricks during his playing career. “But I may reconsider my decision if Pakistan needs me for the 11th World Cup 2006 at Monchengladbach.” Sohail also emerged as the all-time leading scorer in the Champions Trophy, beating Australian Mark Hager’s mark of 32 goals. He is now leading the chart of CT with 34 goals.

Sohail was also Pakistan’s leading scorer in previous six years when he struck 20 goals in 1998, 60 in 1999, 26 in 2000, 37 in 2001, 44 in 2002 and 28 in 2003. Besides Sohail, Kashif and Rehan, other Pakistani scorers in 2004 are : Shakil Abbasi (10), Muhamad Nadeem (9), Shabbir Hussain (7), Ghazanfar Ali (4), Mudassar Ali Khan (3), Tariq Aziz and Muhammad Saqlain (2). Salim Khalid, Wasim Ahmed, Akhtar Ali managed to hit the target once.

PAKISTAN IN 2004
13TH AZLAN SHAH CUP AT KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

8 Jan PAKISTAN 4 KOREA 2
Rehan Butt 2, Muhammad Nadeem ,Shabbir Hussain
9 Jan PAKISTAN 3 INDIA 2
Sohail Abbas 3
11 Jan PAKISTAN 4 SPAIN 2
Kashif Jawwad 3, Shabbir Hussain
12 Jan PAKISTAN 4 GERMANY 3
Sohail Abbas 3, Muhammad Nadeem
14 Jan PAKISTAN 1 MALAYSIA 1
Sohail Abbas
15 Jan PAKISTAN 2 AUSTRALIA 2
Sohail Abbas, Salim Khalid
18 Jan PAKISTAN 3 AUSTRALIA 4 (F)
Sohail Abbas 2, Kashif Jawwad

(Pakistan finished second)

OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS AT MADRID , SPAIN

2 March PAKISTAN 4 CANADA 2
Sohail Abbas 2, Kashif Jawwad, Shakil Abbasi
4 March PAKISTAN 2 BELGIUM 0
Muhammad Saqlain, Kashif Jawwad
6 March PAKISTAN 5 INDIA 3
Sohail Abbas 4, Rehan Butt
8 March PAKISTAN 0 MALAYSIA 0

9 March PAKISTAN 4 NEW ZEALAND 1
Sohail Abbas 2, Shabbir Hussain, Rehan Butt
11 March PAKISTAN 2 SPAIN 3 (SF)
Shakil Abbasi, Mudassar Ali Khan
13 March PAKISTAN 4 INDIA 2 (3/4)
Shabbir Hussain, Shakil Abbasi, Sohail Abbas, Kashif Jawwad

(Pakistan finished third)

TRI NATION AT STAFFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND

6 June PAKISTAN 2 AUSTRALIA 1
Sohail Abbas, Tariq Aziz
7 June PAKISTAN 2 BRITAIN 3
Sohail Abbas, Kashif Jawwad

TRI NATION AT NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND

10 June PAKISTAN 3 AUSTRALIA 2
Sohail Abbas 2, Shakil Abbasi
11 June PAKISTAN 1 BRITAIN 2
Kashif Jawwad
(Pakistan finished Second)

TEST MATCHES AT BERLIN, GERMANY

13 June PAKISTAN 1 GERMANY 3
Sohail Abbas
14 June PAKISTAN 1 GERMANY 2
Sohail Abbas

10TH HAMBURG MASTERS AT HAMBURG,GERMANY

18 June PAKISTAN 1 KOREA 1
Sohail Abbas
19 June PAKISTAN 6 ARGENTINA 3
Muhammad Nadeem 3, Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt, Wasim Ahmed
20 June PAKISTAN 2 GERMANY 3
Sohail Abbas, Muhammad Nadeem

(Pakistan finished Second)

4-NATION RABOBANK TROPHY AT AMSTELVEEN, NETHERLANDS

26 June PAKISTAN 0 GERMANY 6

29 June PAKISTAN 6 INDIA 1
Sohail Abbas 2, Shakil Abbasi, Shabbir Hussain, Muhammad Nadeem, Kashif Jawwad
1 July PAKISTAN 2 NETHERLANDS 3
Ghazanfar Ali, Rehan Butt
3 July PAKISTAN 5 INDIA 3 (3/4)
Sohail Abbas 2, Rehan Butt 2, Kashif Jawwad
(Pakistan finished third)

3-NATION AT ALCALA LA REAL , SPAIN

31 July PAKISTAN 2 ARGENTINA 2
Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt
1 Aug PAKISTAN 3 SPAIN 1
Sohail Abbas 2, Kashif Jawwad
(Pakistan finished first)

28th OLYMPIC GAMES HOCKEY TOURNAMENT AT ATHENS, GREECE

15 AUG PAKISTAN 1 GERMANY 2
Rehan Butt
17 AUG PAKISTAN 7 EGYPT 0
Sohail Abbas 4 ,Kashif Jawwad 2, Muhammad Nadeem
19 AUG PAKISTAN 3 KOREA 0
Rehan Butt , Shakil Abbasi , Sohail Abbas
21 AUG PAKISTAN 0 SPAIN 4

23 AUG PAKISTAN 8 BRITAIN 2
Sohail Abbas 2, Rehan Butt 2,Ghazanfar Ali, Shabbir Hussain, Muhammad Nadeem, Shakil Abbasi
25 AUG PAKISTAN 3 INDIA 0 (5-8)
Tariq Aziz , Sohail Abbas , Shabbir Hussain
27 AUG PAKISTAN 4 NEW ZEALAND 2 (5/6)
Sohail Abbas 3, Kashif Jawwad
(Pakistan finished fifth)

9TH INDO-PAK SERIES 2004

24 Sep Karachi PAKISTAN 2 INDIA 1
Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt
27 Sep Quetta PAKISTAN 1 INDIA 4
Ghazanfar Ali
29 Sep Peshawar PAKISTAN 3 INDIA 2
Mudassar Ali Khan, Shakil Abbasi, Sohail Abbas
1 Oct Lahore PAKISTAN 4 INDIA 4
Sohail Abbas 2, Akhtar Ali, Rehan Butt
4 Oct Delhi PAKISTAN 3 INDIA 1
Sohail Abbas 2, Kashif Jawwad
6 Oct Chandigarh PAKISTAN 1 INDIA 1
Ghazanfar Ali
8 Oct Amritsar PAKISTAN 2 INDIA 1
Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt
10 Oct Hyderabad D PAKISTAN 0 INDIA 2

26th Champions Trophy at Lahore (Pakistan)
4 Dec PAKSTAN 3 GERMANY 1
Sohail Abbas,Shakil Abbasi,Kashif Jawwad
5 Dec PAKISTAN 3 NEW ZEALAND 1
Sohail Abbas 2, Shakil Abbasi
7 Dec PAKISTAN 1 NETHERLANDS 4
Sohail Abbas
8 Dec PAKISTAN 1 INDIA 1
Muhammad Saqlain, Sohail Abbas
10 Dec PAKISTAN 0 SPAIN 3
12 Dec PAKISTAN 3 INDIA 2 (3 / 4 )
Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt, Mudassar Ali Khan

Rate This Article

Select Here  5 Stars  (Best Rating)   4 Stars   3 Stars   2 Stars   1 Star  (Worst Rating)

Your opinion counts.
Rate this article or enter your comments below.