November 28, 2004

After a long hiatus, the Champions Trophy returns to its birthplace. But will we be able to regain it?

CHAMPIONS Trophy, hockey’s premier tournament returns to where it all began as the world’s top teams gather for the 26th edition of the tournament.

Held every year the tournament features the world’s top-ranked teams competing in a round robin format. The Champions Trophy was first held in 1978 when the Pakistan Hockey Federation initiated a tournament to be contested between the best hockey teams in the world. This call came after the successful completion of another one of Pakistan’s initiatives, the World Cup that was held in 1971.

In 1987 the first women version of the tournament started.

Six teams qualify for the championship, though the first edition had five teams and the second and ninth had seven. In the year following the Olympics or a World Cup, the six competing teams include the host, the defending champion, the world champion and the next highest ranked teams from either the most recent World Cup or Olympic Games.

The last placed team in the tournament is dropped and replaced by the winner of the recently-introduced Champions Challenge.

Only four nations have won the trophy between 1978 and 2003: Pakistan (thrice), The Netherlands and Australia seven times and Germany eight times. India’s best showing is a third place in the fourth and 24th editions at Amstelveen and at Kvln, Germany, respectively. This makes Pakistan the only Asian country to ever win the tournament.

This year, The Netherlands will defend its title in the 26th version of the trophy in Lahore. Being played in the city’s grand National Hockey Stadium, from December 4-12, 2004, the other contenders for the trophy include Germany, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Spain.

Pakistan’s performance in the first two Champions Trophies — in 1978 at Lahore’s grassy ground and 1980 at the then newly laid Astroturf of the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium in Karachi had been commendable as the green-shirt Pakistanis won the gold medals on both occasions with great ease.

Then came the draught, and though they came close to winning gold on a number of occasions, such as in the 1983, 1984, and 1991 editions, they never actually managed it, with either Australia or Germany or Netherlands beating them to the gold. Pakistan had to wait almost 14 years to clinch their third trophy title, again at Lahore in 1994.

The 22nd Champions Trophy was held at Amstelveen, The Netherlands. However, it was also the first and the only time in the history of the Champions Trophy when the competition’s founding country, Pakistan was not amongst the top six hockey teams in the world, and thus was not part of the Champions Trophy that year. Australia is the only country to have participated in all 25 editions. However, that cycle seems destined to break as the team from Down Under has refused to come to Pakistan, citing security concerns. Subsequently, India was invited and agreed to participate (it is the first reserve team by virtue of its World Cup placing).

BACKGROUND: It was established in 1978 by the FIH to promote top international hockey, and was based in part on a proposal from the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). Because of their role in initiating the tournament, a formal regulation dictates that the event be held in Pakistan at least once every three years. However, that cycle was broken in 2001 when due to the global security situation, participating teams refused to travel to Pakistan. The tournament was shifted to Rotterdam.

Both the men’s and women’s events are six team contests, one pool, round robin competition followed by a final classification play-off to determine placing. Qualification for the six teams which take part in the Champions Trophy, both the men’s and the women’s is based on the following:

QUALIFICATION: The 2002 Champions Trophy had a new qualification format for the six elite teams of world hockey. To make it to the tournament, a team has to be either of the following:

• Olympic gold medallist

• World Cup gold medallist

• Defending champion

• Host nation

• Winner of the Champions Challenge

• The remaining teams from the ranking of the last World Cup.