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East Pakistan’s Hockey Memories

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A number of memorable hockey events took place in East Pakistan during the 1960s and early 1970s. The first major hockey occasion came when the Olympics champion Pakistan hockey team visited East Pakistan in January 1961. Most of the team members had travelled to East Pakistan for the first time.

The team was warmly welcomed at Dacca Airport amid slogans of ‘Hockey team Zindabad’ and ‘Naseer Bunda Zindabad’. The national team played a match with East Pakistan Governor’s XI at Dacca Stadium (now Bangabandhu National Stadium). The Governor’s XI had been selected from among the players of Jinnah Gymkhana Club, PIA and Peshawar Zone. The Pakistan team won 1-0. Scorer: Left-fullback MH Atif.

The teams were: Pakistan: Abdul Rashid, Bashir Ahmed, MH Atif, Ch Ghulam Rasool (Captain), Anwar Ahmed Khan, Habib Ali Kiddie, Noor Alam, Zakauddin, Abdul Waheed, Naseer Bunda and Matiullah. Governor’s XI: Hamid, Idris, Tehmas, Fazal, Aqil, Musarat Zaman, Haji, Noor Ali, Habib, Khurshid and Zawar.

The same Pakistan team also played a match at Niaz Stadium (now called MA Aziz Stadium) Chittagong with Chittagong XI, which the national team won 9-1. Scorers: Pakistan: Centre-forward Abdul Waheed (3), right-out Noor Alam (2), right-in Zakauddin (2), left-in Nasir Bunda and left-out Matiullah. Chittagong XI: Left-in Afzal.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) arranged a training camp for school students from both wings at the National Hockey Stadium Lahore in 1961. Nabi Ahmed Kallat and Ahsan Khan were the coaches.

The only win for the East Pakistan hockey team in the National Hockey Championship came in April 1967 when the event was held in Karachi. The East Pakistan hockey team defeated Pak Navy in one of the matches. Centre-half Abdus Sadeque and left-in Bashir Ahmed from the East Pakistan hockey team played exceptionally well in this match. Bashir Ahmed had already established himself as Pakistan’s international player. Abdus Sadeque got the Pakistan cap in 1969. Both of them played two matches each for Pakistan.

In April 1969, the final round of the 19th National Hockey Championship was held in Dacca. This was the only occasion when the championship was held in East Pakistan. The holiday crowd of Dacca enjoyed the match studded with Olympians and internationals. Customs reached the final for the first time and beat PIA 1-0. Scorer: Khalid Mahmood.

The teams were: Customs: Riaz, Tanvir Dar, Iqbal Shah, Jahangir Butt, Sami Khan, Gulrez Akhtar, Khalid Mahmood, Saeed Kashani, Islahuddin, Laeeq Ahmed and Mehdi. PIA: Hamid, Rashid, Riazuddin, Saeed Anwar, Riaz Ahmed, Fazal ur Rehman, Iftikhar Shah, Muhammad Ashfaq, Rashid Junior, Asad Malik and Rashid Bunda.

During this championship, a match between Pakistan’s Senior and Junior teams was arranged at the Dacca Stadium. The match was won by the Seniors 4-0. Scorers: Right-out Saeed Kashani (2), left-out Jahangir Butt and left-in Asad Malik.

After the championship, the PHF arranged the first coaching camp for East Pakistan in Dacca. Later in the year, the East Pakistan junior hockey team participated in the first Junior National Hockey Championship in Lahore.

After winning the Asian Games hockey title in December 1970, the Pakistan hockey team flew from Bangkok to land in Dacca for a match with the EPSF XI. The EPSF XI’s goalkeeper Majid, right-half Mohsin, centre-half Abdus Sadeque, left-half Ibrahim Saber and centre-forward Abdur Razzak, known as Sona Miah, played exceptionally well. Pakistan won by a solitary goal from Tanvir Dar. The teams were: Pakistan: Muhammad Aslam, Akhtar-ul-Islam, Tanvir Dar, Sami Khan, Riaz Ahmed, Gulrez Akhtar, Khalid Mahmood (Captain), Islahuddin, Rashid Junior, Zahid Sheikh and Jahangir Butt. EPSF XI: Majid, Shamsul Bari, Shabbir, Mohsin, Abdus Sadeque (Captain), Ibrahim Saber, Nurul Islam, Ehtesham Sultan, Abdur Razzak, Pratap and Kayes.

In October 1971, the first Hockey World Cup was held in Barcelona (Spain). Five players were also sent with the team as observers. They were Abdus Sadeque and Ibrahim Saber from East Pakistan while Mudassar Asghar, Samiullah Khan and Iftikhar Syed from West Pakistan.

Alamgir Mohammed Adel, Mahmudur Rahman Momin, OA Siddiqi and Abdul Sattar from East Pakistan remained officials of the Pakistan hockey team in the1960s and early 1970s.

 

Muhammad Afsar Khan
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