Pakistan hockey, at the moment, is walking on thin ice. Once a powerhouse, the team’s blowing hot and cold, performance-wise. Last month, it shared the Asian Champions Trophy with India. In Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, it failed to win a medal.
It’s not just the performance; a few weeks ago, Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup in Bhubaneswar itself was uncertain because, according to their coach, “Pakistan Hockey Federation is going through the worst financial crunch.”
So, it must’ve been a relief for the players to land in Bhubaneshwar on Saturday and knowing that they’ll be a part of the 18-day extravaganza.
“We have come here before and we have always enjoyed playing at [Kalinga Stadium]. It is a lucky ground for us and we are very excited to be back,” said skipper Muhammad Rizwan Senior.
In Kalinga, four years ago, Pakistan upset hosts India 4-3 in the Champions Trophy semi-final before losing 0-2 to Germany.
Pakistan’s Champions Trophy win against India at Kalinga four years ago was an infamous one because of what happened after the match. Amjad Ali and Mohammad Tousiq were suspended from playing the final after they were found guilty of making obscene gestures towards spectators.
Rehan, however, downplayed the incident. “It’s important to focus on hockey. That incident must have been a result of some misunderstanding, though I was not here when it happened, and I’d prefer we leave it behind and focus on hockey. So far, our experience in India has been very good and I am sure it will remain this way.”
Pakistan needs the good fortune of the venue more than ever. For, they need to escape the ‘group of death’ (Pool D) and prolong their stay here. They are the lowest ranked team (13th in the world) of their group that has the Netherlands (world No 4), Germany (world No 6) and Malaysia (world No 12).
After their defeat to France in Sunday’s warm-up game, Pakistan’s assistant coach Rehan Butt hinted that it’d be difficult for Pakistan to progress to the last-eight stage.
“Pakistan is ranked 13th. Realistically, (in our group) Germany and Netherlands have the big chance of making it to the quarter-finals,” he said.
“First, we are focussing on winning the match against Malaysia,” he added, “If we get past them, then we have a shot at the quarterfinals.”
Getting used to the pitch
Malaysia, who stunned India in the semi-finals of the Asian Games, lost twice to Pakistan in the Asian Champions Trophy in October. So, Rehan’s optimistic of his team’s chances against them.
But the four-time champions will still have to win at least two games to strengthen their last-eight chances.
“We were here a long time ago... the atmosphere and the stadium will be really good,” said Rehan, reiterating his skipper’s words before adding that the playing conditions might not be favourable for his team.
“It’s a really heavy and slow pitch. So, it’s very difficult. In Oman (at the Asian Champions Trophy) and Pakistan, we trained on a fast pitch,” he said.
Despite enduring a topsy-turvy year and being placed in a precarious group, Pakistan would draw optimism from their recent success. “The Asian Champions Trophy - that we shared with India - has done a world of good to team’s confidence.”
Except their 1-3 defeat to India in the group stage, Pakistan were undefeated in the tournament.
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