Field Hockey
Did you know- Field hockey is extremely popular sport in the nation and despite many problems Pakistan is one of the few places in the Third World with one of the best field hockey teams. In the 60s, this country was the only one to challenge the Indian supremacy. Between 1971 and 1994, Pakistan won the hockey World Championship four times. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the men’s hockey tournament was won by the nation for the third time, having also been champion in Rome’60 and Mexico City ’68. In Rome’60, Pakistan was the only Asia’s team to win an Olympic gold medal. By 2008, Pakistan’s hockey player Zeeshan Ashraf was the flag-bearer for the nation’s Olympic delegation in the 29th Summer Games in the People’s Republic of China.
Asian Games
Did you know- The nation competed in the Asian Games since 1954. During that event (Manila, Philippines), it won 4 gold medals and took fourth place in the unofficial team championships. Subsequently,at the IX Asian Games in Seoul (South Korea) in the mid- 1980s, the national team finished eighth in the medal count, with a total of nine medals (2 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze), outpacing Indonesia, Hong Kong and Qatar. But more than two decades later, it reached 23rd in Busan (South Korea’s second-largest city).
1980 Olympics
Did you know- Because of the Pakistani government boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics in the early 1980s, the men’s field hockey team -which had won the bronze medal at the 1976 Games in Montreal (Canada), behind New Zealand and Australia– could not compete in the Olympic tournament.
Volleyball
Did you know- By the early 1960s, the men’s volleyball team finished third place, behind Japan and India, in the Asian Games of Tokyo, Japan. It was the first time the national squad had won a medal.
National Idol
Did you know- The greatest name among Pakistani athletes is Abdul Khaliq, who was known as the “Fastest Man in Asia” in the 50s. Mr Khaliq won the 100m and 200m at the 1954 Asian Games and the 100m at the 1958 Asian Games. In the Melbourne Summer Games in 1956, he set a new national record of 10,4s in the 100m; this record was not broken until 2001.
Cricket
Did you know- Cricket is another popular sport in Pakistan. Abdul Khaliq Khan, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee, once said, “The most popular sport in our country is, in fact, a non-Olympic sport. Cricket is widely played and very popular with the youth who hero-worship the elite players and there is a lot of sponsorship, commercial activity and media coverage around the sport…”
