KARACHI May 18: After a lot of hype on triumphs against minnows by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the real for the second string will be the 8th Junior World Cup (under-21) hockey tournament which is round the corner and pushes off in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam from June 29. Unfortunately, the last competition staged at Hobart, Australia, had gone into the annals of the game as former champions, Pakistan had to skip because of its failure to qualify. The men in green finished at an all time low — 5th place in the fourth Junior Asia Cup held at Kuala Lumpur which also serves as qualifying round for Asian teams.

In the absence of Pakistan, India pulled off a major upset when they, for the first time, won the title instituted in 1979.

After returning with flying colours in the inaugural competition held at Versailles, (France) the title has eluded Pakistan as the team failed to repeat similar performance in the six successive tournaments. But at the same time they remained on the podium until the 5th edition held in the Spanish city of Terrassa in 1993.

From then onwards, a marked decline was witnessed in the performance of the junior string. First they finished a poor 5th at Milton Keynes in 1997 and then they missed the bus in 2001. So Pakistan will be making it to the Junior World Cup after eight years.

Following the Milton Keynes debacle the juniors’ activities remained in a low profile for quite some time due to frequent change of guards at the PHF. In 2000, the team travelled to the Malaysian capital for Junior Asia Cup sojourn and due to lack of proper planning it failed to display its true form. The following year they were engaged in a four-match home series against England, winning it 2-1.

Again, many upsets were in store for Pakistan juniors’ in 2002 as they went down to teams like Egypt (0-2), India (0-3) and France by a solitary goal to finish at bottom in the three-nation Al-Yom hockey tournament in Cairo.

In 2003 the team had an extensive exposure. The beginning of the year saw Pakistan securing third position in a quadrangular tournament played at Kuala Lumpur. Pakistan went down 0-2 to arch-rivals India, drew 2-2 against hosts Malaysia before chalking up a 5-0 win against South Korea. India clinched the battle beating Malaysia.

In the next stage, Pakistan finished runners-up in seven-nation Al-Yom hockey tournament in Cairo. However, before embarking on a European tour, the juniors played six games against visiting Chinese team who denied the hosts a clean sweep. Displaying better skills, the Chinese chalked up a 3-1 victory in one match to surprise the pundits of the game.

Finally, the second string had a strenuous European tour of Holland, France, Spain and Poland. The trip ended on a sour note as the International Hockey Federation (FIH) slapped a one-year ban on Col (retd) Abdul Rauf, Manager of the Pakistan team for allegedly acting in an unsporting manner during the Pakistan-Poland series.

On return, Rauf, who was also director administration, PHF, was shown the door.

Though Pakistan crossed the qualifying hurdle but at the same time its performance against India in the final of the 5th Junior Asia Cup last year at the HCP Stadium left much to be desired. The reigning junior world champions whipped Pakistan 5-2 in the final that turned out to be a one-sided affair.

The Junior Asia Cup was preceded by a four-match home series against Holland which resulted in a 2-2 draw. Soon afterwards, Pakistan juniors clinched a four-match home series against Malaysian counterparts 4-0.

As many as 12 players from the junior team were part of Kuala Lumpur bound senior team who, according to PHF, would get ‘exposure’.

Three-tier system is need of time which, if implemented, could also serve as a reservoir. Once, if a player gets elevated to the national team, he should not be made part of the juniors again and the vacant place should be filled by equally competent player to keep the flow going.

It is a pity that the PHF has failed to establish a hockey academy in the last 57 years. We must take lesson from India and Malaysia to name a few in the region.

Merely giving press statements and implementation are two different things. There are many big names who talk of grassroots level but with the exception of few, how many have volunteered either with cash or kind or only time?

The summer vacations in educational institutions throughout the country are to start soon. Let the Olympians and Internationals come forward and if each of them sponsors a club by providing them hockey sticks and balls, it would not only inculcate a new spirit among the youth but would also help develop a base. It is their responsibility to repay the debt and share the burden.