Now, That’s another example of being gracious in defeat 
Pak hockey team seeks India revenge
By Khalid Hussain
KARACHI: Pakistan’s top hockey players and officials watched in disbelief as their cricketers were thrashed mercilessly by India in a crucial World Cup game in Centurion, South Africa last Saturday. Soon after the match was over, they vowed to avenge the embarrassing defeat in the Malaysian city of Ipoh later this month.
“It was a depressing result for all of us,” admits Pakistan’s chief coach Shahnaz Sheikh. “Losing to India in any field is never taken lightly.** The nation is in the grip of depression and the least we hockey people can do is to beat India and avenge that loss.”**
Shahnaz and his boys will get a chance to avenge, in their own way, the Centurion disappointment by beating India on March 26 in Ipoh where the six-nation Azlan Shah Cup will take place from March 22 to 30. “Our focus will certainly be on the match against India though the other games too will be a lot of importance for our team,” feels Shahnaz. Pakistan have to settle scores with four of the other five participating teams in the Azlan Shah Cup, considered among one of the major events of the international hockey calendar.
Their first match to be played on March 22 will be against World Cup champions Germany. It will be followed by a game against hosts Malaysia. Then come New Zealand. But the biggest match for Pakistan remains the March 26 clash against India that will precede their final league match against Korea.
“Our target is to beat India,” comments Pakistan manager Col (retd) Shahid Jafri who announced a rest day on March 1 so that the Pakistan team players can see the Group A game between the two Asian rivals. “The boys are now motivated more than ever to win (against India) after the defeat of our cricketers.”
Jafri’s players can identify with Waqar Younis’ men as they were also beaten in the last meeting against India - in the Asian Games semi-finals in Busan.
“Such matches put extra pressure on both the sides,” says former skipper Ahmed Alam, the team’s experienced goal-keeper. A veteran of many Pakistan-India matches, Ahmed believes a victory over the old enemy in Ipoh will certainly be a cause for big celebration.
“It will be double delight for us if we win against India in Ipoh . It will help us avenge the Busan loss and also our cricketers’ defeat in South Africa.”
Pakistani hockey fraternity, however, can see a silver lining in their counterparts’ miserable performance on the cricket field. With the national cricketers continuing their sorry run on the field and igniting countless controversies off it, a good show in international hockey competitions can help revive public interest in hockey, Pakistan’s national game and once the most popular sport in this country.
Hockey officials believe that by focussing only on cricket during the last two decades, the Pakistani nation has placed all their eggs in one basket.
“In my playing days hockey was by far the most popular sport in Pakistan. Though there was no TV during those days, people will come to grounds and recognise us by our shirt numbers. Today our people don’t even know the names of their leading national hockey players,” laments Shahnaz.
“This is because slowly cricket overtook hockey in terms of public interest which was I suppose a natural process. But over the years, people have completely lost interest in all the games but cricket and that’s not a healthy sign. I believe that our people should divide their interest and return to hockey fields. This is the sport that has given Pakistan more (team) gold medals on the international arena than any other game and now is the time that our nation give something back to their great sport.”
Shahnaz believes that his players can deliver where the cricketers failed. “Our team made big total (against India) but still lost mainly because of the lack of leadership,” added the former Olympian at the helm of the national training camp under progress here at the Pakistan Steel Sports Complex. “Then another problem with this cricket team is that they cannot make a comeback. Our hockey players on the other hand have great fighting qualities which is a must to excel on the international arena.”
Pakistan came back from 2-3 down to stun India in the dying moments of the Champions Trophy bronze medal match in Cologne last September. “It was because of their sheer never say die attitude that helped Pakistan win that match. You need to believe in yourself in order to overcome a tough opposition.”
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/
These barackwalas have killed cricket in Pakistan and now they are targetting hockey which is already a victim of army across the border.
