LAHORE: Former Olympians Chaudary Akhtar Rasool and Col. (retd.) Mudassar Asghar have paid rich tribute to the services of late Brig. (retd.) Abdul Hameed Hamidi that he rendered for the country in field hockey.

Akhtar said Hamidi’s services both as hockey player and administrator were memorable. “He excelled when the game of hockey was in initial phase in Pakistan. Under his fine captaincy Pakistan won the gold medal in 1960 and the country was recognized as a giant in field hockey,” said Akhtar Rasool.

“Today the scenario is so different and that golden era appears to be a dream.”

Akhtar further said the game of hockey was in need of more people like Hamidi to put it on the right track. “I learned many key points of the game from Hamidi and it helped me improve my skills as a player.”

Col. (retd.) Mudassar Asghar said Abdul Hameed was a real hero of Pakistan hockey, both as a player and as administrator. His services were remarkable for the promotion of hockey,” said Mudassar, also former secretary PHF. “Along with another legendary hockey personality Brig. (retd.) Atif, Hamidi contributed immensely to the game including setting up PHF offices at the National Hockey Stadium,” he recalled.

Hamidi died in Rawalpindi on Thursday at the age of 92. He was the member of Pakistan team which first appeared in the London Olympics in 1948. Later under his captaincy Pakistan won the gold medal in Asian Games in 1958 and two years later won the gold medals at Rome Olympics to emerge as force in the field of hockey.

His record of scoring 16 goals in an Olympics remained undefeated till 2008. He also served as PHF secretary and DG Pakistan Sports Board.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2019