THE Pakistan hockey team’s failure to defend its title at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea on Thursday has disappointed its fans and experts of the game.

Although the team fought valiantly for the title in the final, holding arch-rivals India 1-1 in regulation time, they were found wanting in the penalty shootout and eventually lost the battle 5-3, relinquishing the gold earned four years ago at Guangzhou, China.

Also read: India defeats Pakistan to clinch Asian Games hockey title

It was an unlikely end to Pakistan’s otherwise lively hockey campaign at the Games where they remained unbeaten in their group, defeating teams like India, Malaysia, China and Oman on their way to the final.

India, by virtue of their win, will now get a direct ticket to the 2016 Olympics while Pakistan will take the thorny path of playing the qualifiers in order to enter the mega event. It is, indeed, a big setback for the national team that failed to qualify for the World Cup early this year, the first such occasion for them in the 42-year history of the tournament.

Having said that, there were still a number of positives for Pakistan at the Asiad. For the first time in many years, the team showed glimpses of the high-class game often attributed to the Asian hockey giants in decades past.

It was encouraging to see talented youngsters like Umar Bhutta, Imran Butt, Mohammad Waqas and teenager Mohammad Dilber making their mark at the event and holding their own in pressure games like the ones against India and Malaysia.

One must also hand it to head coach Shahnaz Sheikh who worked very hard to prepare the team for the Incheon extravaganza at the gruelling training camp set up in Lahore prior to the Games. Hockey has gone through a major transformation over the years insofar as the rules and regulations are concerned.

However, the International Hockey Federation’s latest move to divide the game into four quarterly sessions has clearly robbed the game of its beauty and thrill, and needs to be reviewed.

Published in Dawn, October 4th , 2014