August 22, 2008	Friday	Sha'aban 19, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 21: Amidst talk of restructuring in the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) with a change of management and coaches after the latest national hockey debacle at the Beijing Olympics, former hockey Olympian Samiullah has registered his unhappiness at the team’s distressing performance.

Speaking to Dawn on Thursday after Pakistan lost their 7-8 position match to New Zealand 4-2 and ended up eighth at Beijing, Samiullah said that this is the worst news for Pakistan hockey since 1986 “when we ended up 11th in the World Cup.

“That was the beginning of our downfall. But this time, leave alone reaching the podium as was formerly claimed by the team and its management, Pakistan even failed to be counted among the top six outfits which also deprived them of a spot in next year’s Champion’s Trophy,” said the player dubbed as the ‘Flying Horse’ by critics.

“The result should be no big surprise for those following this team’s recent performances. I could imagine them coming sixth or seventh but they even proved me wrong by coming eighth,” said the former hockey great who played in the left-out position and who also proudly led the Beijing Olympics torch relay in its 10th leg in Islamabad on April 16.

“Just look at the team,” he said. “It lacks a middle defense and only boasts two attacking forwards in Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi. All the other teams penetrated us through our centre — our major weakness.

“Then the coaches also didn’t any pay heed to rolling substitutions. In the first match, we substituted four players while Great Britain allowed rest to their valuable players by carrying out 46 substitutions,” he pointed out.

When asked what he thought about hiring the services of a foreign coach, the manager of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics squad said: “The PHF had called in coaches from the Netherlands back in 1992, 1996 and 2004 as well but it didn’t bring forth the desired results. That is because those coaches had been brought here just to shift the burden of blame. There is no harm in getting another foreign coach but it should be done for the Under-17 boys. That way even the U-19 and U-20 boys who lie their way into the U-17 camps would benefit.”

Speaking about the team’s future in the wake of them missing next year’s Champion’s Trophy, the former captain who featured in the 1979 and 1980 Champions Trophy tournaments, both of which Pakistan won, said: “I cannot even name one outstanding player in the current squad who has it in him to take this team forward.

“Yes, next year’s Champion’s Trophy is out for the country which started the event. Now let’s see how we figure in the 2010 Asian Games where we currently hold third position. If we succeed in getting gold there, it will allow us to feature in the 2011 Champion’s Trophy. What the PHF now has is sufficient time to work on putting together a better squad.”

About his impression on astroturf changing the nature of the game, Samiullah said: “The game has changed to an extent that it demands more strength and power from the players.

“Australia, Korea, China and even Malaysia have adopted the power system and the scientific method of training. Now when we make our aging players get into strength training, they end up losing whatever skill they had. But strength and skill should go hand in hand.

“The PHF needs to rethink its strategy and bring in sincere people who can really do something for the dying sport here. The boys should be offered more incentives. Contract-based jobs have hurt the sport considerably. The hockey academies here should hold regular coaching clinics too. Even short-term clinics, held quarterly, would be good enough as long as they happen on a regular basis.

“A proper future plan should be charted out. In order to inspire the youth here, PHF should use the internet to publicise the sport by showcasing the profiles of their great players for the younger generation to read about.

“As their part, the players too should show their appreciation to the federation by working hard. Just making tall claims and then putting on individual games in a team sport is not acceptable,” he concluded.