The Tanvir Dar Hockey Academy began its European tour with an impressive win.
Pakistan’s premier hockey academy, who mourned the death of their mentor Munir Dar, reached Holland on the first leg of the European tour which would also take them to Germany. Hours before the opening match, the academy boys and the management were shocked to hear the news of the demise of their chief patron and Pakistan’s legendary hockey player Munir Dar who is also father of the academy’s founding president Taqueer Dar. The team first thought about cancelling the tour but Taqueer directed them on phone from Pakistan to continue with their commitment. In their first match against Tilberg HC A1 side (under 18), the Dar HA players wore black armbands and also observed one minute silence before the start of the match. The match began on a brisk note with the hosts blocking two penalty corners and also misfiring a field chance. Soon, the Dar Academy players settled down and started dictating. First skipper Rizwan’s wonderful cross went right in front of the goal mouth without getting a touch then a penalty corner strike by Zubair went straight through the goalkeeper’s pads. Finally in the 12th minute, a melee in the circle saw the ball cross the goal line off the stick of Awais Zahid. Bolstered by the goal, Dar HA attacks gained momentum and they doubled the lead in the 20th minute via a wonderfully executed indirect drill off the third penalty corner by Bilal Mahmood. After the breather, Dar Academy kept attacking and created countless chances but the final touch lacked accuracy. But one of those efforts resulted in a penalty stroke in the 49th minute for the Dutch but it hit the upper bar and after 70 minutes play the score remained 2-0.