KARACHI: Rich tributes were paid to 1960 Rome Olympics gold medallist Abdul Waheed Khan and Pakistan’s top tennis player Aqeel Khan at a select gathering here to honour the two men for receiving Hilal-i-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance awards respectively.

The ceremony to honour them was organised by the high-ups of Modern Club - to which the two belonged - here on Tuesday.

Waheed, the former spearhead of Pakistan hockey team, thanked the club’s hierarchy for arranging the function and thanked scores of his well wishers whose prayers enabled him to win a number of laurels for the nation during his career as a player, manager and chief coach.

Waheed said he had also received a telephone call from the President’s Secretariat on Sunday and conveyed well wishes on behalf of President Mamnoon Hussain. He acknowledged the role of one of the founding members of the club, the late Sulaiman Jaffer, that he played on the eve of 1978 Buenos Aires World Cup victory.

“He (Sulaiman) took me to a saint who prayed and later asked me to swap positions of Hanif Khan and Shahnaz Sheikh that worked affectively in the final,” he recalled.

The legendary player said he has left no stone unturned in making Modern Club one of the best in the country - both in terms of scouting talent or discipline that he wanted in hockey. Speaking on the occasion, Aqeel thanked the government for honouring him with Pride of Performance. He attributed his success to Modern Club, its management and of course, the prayers of his family.

Former Olympian Jahangir Butt recalled his association with Waheed who as a senior always guided him when needed.

Dr Abdul Razzak Jaffer, who is president of the Modern Club, said it was indeed an honour that the two awards recipients belonged to the club. He asked Waheed to help in bringing his favourite sport hockey out of the present situation as Pakistan team had finished at the bottom among 12-nations sometimes back.

Club’s secretary Nasir Jaffer advised Aqeel to produce second tier of players which is capable of delivering the goods in future.

Earlier, honorary tennis secretary of the club Zafar Hasan Khan welcomed the guest. The ceremony was attended among others by Jamil Khan, former hockey players M. Ashraf and Waseeq Ahmed.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2014