KARACHI, Aug. 6: Former Olympian Anwar Ahmad Khan said Tuesday that he believed that Air Marshal (Retd) Nur Khan, was the man to restore the pride of Pakistan hockey.

In an interview the former national team captain minced no words in saying that Pakistan hockey was presently at its lowest ebb.

“Winning and losing is a part of the game. But the manner in which Pakistan lost in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games should serve as a wake up call to the followers of the national game”, he said

“Pakistan hockey has been going from bad to worse. The hockey affairs of the country have been in shambles. Mismanagement has been obvious in so many areas. It’s imperative to do something before we get eliminated from the hockey world”, Anwar said.

“Under the circumstances the one man who can help restore the pride of Pakistan hockey is Nur Khan. He is a man of outstanding qualities and always delivered. He is the man who helped Pakistan win laurels in hockey, cricket and squash,” he said.

Nur Khan has proved his worth on a number of occasions. He has been the greatest sports administrator of the country. A team man to the core, he knows the art of getting the best out of his players and officials. We desperately need his services to stop the rot,” he opined.

Meanwhile, Secretary, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Brig, Mussaratullah Khan categorically denied that there was differences among the players which led to the humiliation against New Zealand in semifinal.

“ I am present in Manchester, monitoring all that is happening here. It was a sad day for Pakistani hockey enthusiasts but I assure that there was no grouping among the players nor differences” he said on telephone Tuesday from Manchister.

“ I am not defending the defeat in any way, as it was merely the poor performance. The team lost because the players lost lost confidence” PHF official claimed.

Mussratullah said he knew that in Pakistan some former Hockey players exploited this defeat in their interest critisizing PHF, which was against the interests of national hockey.

“It would be wrong to criticise present management of hockey on the defeat against New Zealand as Pakistan players defeated strong teams of today’s hockey including Spain, Canada, England, South Africa” he said.

He was of view that PHF`s present officials are paying for the wrong doings of previous managements, as they did nothing in their tenures except destroy the game.

The PHF secretary did not agree with view point of certain former Olympians that Pakistan lost the match due to the inclusion of over-age players.

Mussaratullah hoped that Pakistan would perform better in the forthcoming Champions Trophy starting in Cologne, Germany.—APP/PPI