The 3rd Chief of Army Staff National Inter-Club Hockey Championship 2026, featuring clubs from all parts of Pakistan, concluded a few weeks ago. Though the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) had claimed a much bigger number, around 125 clubs from all parts of the country actually participated in the event, which was conducted in three phases: district, regional and national.

​The Bacha Khan Hockey Club of Bannu emerged as the national club champion. It was the first time that a club from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the coveted title. It has been a remarkable journey.

Bannu’s great tradition of hockey started before Partition, as far back as 1935-36, when Bannu’s Waziri Club won the All-India Hockey Tournament in Bhopal. Since Independence, Bannu has been a conveyor belt of top talent for Pakistan.

The achievements of some players from Bannu are a part of the country’s sporting folklore. Bannu’s Abdul Hameed Hamidi was the captain of the Pakistan team that won the country’s first Olympic gold medal (1960) in any sport. His brother Abdul Rasheed Jr was Pakistan’s top scorer among forwards when the national team achieved a grand slam, winning the Olympics (1968), the World Cup (1971) and the Asian Games (1970).

The Bacha Khan Hockey Club of Bannu recently became the first national club champion from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But Bannu’s contribution of talent to Pakistan’s hockey scene is nothing new

The two legends were followed by other stars from Bannu. Saeed Khan enjoys a unique distinction as the member of two World Cup winning squads, 1978 and 1982, and the coach of another World Cup winning team, 1994, when Rasheed Jr was the team manager.

Bannu’s Farhat Khan was the pivot of the Pakistan team, which finished second at the 1992 World Cup and bagged bronze at the 1992 Olympics (Pakistan’s last Olympic medal in hockey). Qazi Mohib became the third man from Bannu, after Hameedi and Rasheed Jr, to captain Pakistan. He led his country to second place in the 1990 World Cup. Sadly, Qazi Mohib passed away from cancer at the young age of only 33. The hockey stadium in Bannu is named after him.

The latest to emerge from Bannu and the Bacha Khan Hockey Club is the current star Sufyan Khan, the national team’s drag flicker. He created history when he was named the FIH Rising Star of the Year (2024), the first Pakistani to win the FIH award in any category.

Club hockey has always flourished in Bannu. The Bacha Khan Hockey Club is relatively young though. It was founded in 1998 by a few hockey players associated with the Pakhtun Students Federation. In 2006, significant changes were made in the club’s administrative structure. The renowned international hockey player Ihsanullah was appointed as the club’s president, while Kashif Farhan was appointed as its secretary general. Thereafter, the team started performing well in competitions.

>The achievements of some players from Bannu are a part of the country’s sporting folklore. Bannu’s Abdul Hameed Hamidi was the captain of the Pakistan team that won the country’s first Olympic gold medal (1960) in any sport. His brother Abdul Rasheed Jr was Pakistan’s top scorer among forwards when the national team achieved a grand slam, winning the Olympics (1968), the World Cup (1971) and the Asian Games (1970).

The same year, Bacha Khan Hockey Club became the champion of the Bannu region. Later, it finished as the runner-up at the provincial stage, thus progressing to the national stage in Karachi.

This period actually proved to be the starting point of Bacha Khan Hockey Club’s successes in other spheres as well. In 2008, under the leadership of Wazir Zada, the responsibility of running the Bannu Hockey Association also came to the same club, which continues to this day. As it is, the club’s best players were often found donning the green Pakistan shirts. The first one to do so was Ihsanullah in 2003, and the latest is Sufyan.

The Chief of Army Staff National Inter-Club Hockey Championship was started in 2022 under the auspices of the Pakistan Army. Prior to this, the Pakistan Hockey Federation organised the PHF National Club Hockey Championship which, unfortunately, could not be held regularly. Still Bacha Khan almost always reached the provincial round, and mostly the national round as well.

Coming to this year’s edition of the Chief of Army Staff National Inter-Club Hockey Championship, the Bacha Khan Club boys swept all matches before them, to become district champions. Next, they became the provincial champions in Peshawar by winning all the four matches there too.

In the national round at the DHA Hockey Arena, Lahore, the Bannu boys continued their hot streak. In the pool matches, they defeated the champion clubs of Sargodha, Hyderabad, Quetta and Islamabad, and drew with the Rana Mujahid Club of Faisalabad.

In the semi-final, Bacha Khan defeated the fancied Pak Heroes of Lahore 1-0 in an exciting encounter. In the final, played under floodlights before a packed house that included the Lahore Corps Commander and several distinguished hockey stalwarts, they again faced the Rana Mujahid Club.

The match was live-streamed, with reportedly around half of Bannu’s population glued to the screens. In a free-flowing game, after trailing 1-2, Bacha Khan won 5-3, to spark celebrations on the ground as well as far away in Bannu.

The winners took home the two million rupees prize. And there were also individual prizes that went to the winning club. The Player of the Tournament prize of 500,000 rupees went to Yasir Ali, the Best Goalkeeper prize of 100,000 rupees went to Mohammad Wasim Khan and the Final’s Man of the Match of 20,000 rupees was picked up by Mujahid Khan.

The success story of the Bacha Khan Hockey Club contains more details than meet the eye. The team totally relied on players who are genuine members of the club and practise regularly together. The same can’t be said about two of the semi-finalists.

The Rana Mujahid Club exists only on paper. Named after the former PHF secretary, it comprises players from clubs in towns and villages in Faisalabad’s vicinity. The club never figures in any other event. It only comes to life at the Chief of Army Staff Club championships. Likewise, the majority of players in Peshawar’s Civil Quarters Club were outsiders from Abbotabad, Mardan etc, included in the club’s roster only for this tournament.

Lahore’s Pak Heroes, the fourth semi-finalist, is one of the most resourceful clubs. It regularly practises on the synthetic turf of Johar Town Stadium, which it virtually owns. The team includes some current internationals. In contrast, the Bacha Khan Club has to share the turf of the Qazi Mohib Stadium in Bannu with nine other clubs for daily practice.

Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu have been the worst-hit districts in terms of terrorism. The Bannu clubs used to play regularly against the army teams stationed in Bannu Cantonment. But because of terrorism, the cantonment has remained out of bounds for the last two decades. For the same reason, the school and college grounds are off limits for outsiders. The club’s expenses are borne mainly by current and former players and club officials, with little outside assistance.

Given all this, the success of the Bacha Khan Hockey Club at the Chief of Army Staff National Inter-Club Championship is nothing less than a fairy-tale.

The writer is a freelance sports journalist based in Lahore.
X: @IjazChaudhry1
Email: ijaz62@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 26th, 2026