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Pakistan’s poor showing at the ongoing Hockey World Cup has left former players deeply concerned about the state of the sport. The four-time champions have now gone 32 years without winning the title and were knocked out of the competition after another disappointing campaign.They will now play South Africa in the classification match for 11th place.Former internationals believe Pakistan hockey urgently needs young talent and better results to regain public interest. They also feel cricket’s growing dominance in the country is partly linked to hockey’s decline.
Asian Games the immediate priority
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has announced plans for a new hockey league and efforts to promote the sport in schools. However, former players believe the national team’s immediate focus should be the Asian Games in Japan next month.Former Olympian Wasim Feroze said success against strong Asian teams could help restore confidence in Pakistan hockey.“This hockey league and all is fine in the long run but right now Pakistan hockey needs an injection (of fresh blood) which will only come if we do well in the Asian Games against India, Malaysia, Japan, China, Korea and other sides,” said former Olympian Wasim Feroze, as quoted by news agency PTI.He warned that without better results, youngsters could continue moving away from hockey.“Everyone wants to play cricket and we are not getting enough talent from the grassroots level,” he added.
Former players question Pakistan’s hockey system
Former international Ahmed Alam believes Pakistan must find out why the team continues to struggle against European and SENA nations, including South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.“Even against Japan, we’ve struggled. You look at the FIH Pro League where we lost all our matches against the European and SENA teams, and it is obvious Pakistan hockey has fallen way behind other countries,” he said.Pakistan finished ninth and last in the recent Pro League. Alam pointed to India as the only Asian team consistently competing with the leading European sides, Australia and New Zealand, crediting its stronger hockey structure.Former great Rasheed-ul-Hasan also expressed disappointment that Pakistan and India, once dominant forces in world hockey, both missed the World Cup semifinals.“It hurts to see this but we have only ourselves to blame for allowing the European nations in the FIH to change rules to their advantage and then exploiting the changed scenario with their aggressive and fast style of play,” he added.
