Top officials of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Wednesday showed courtesy to estranged Olympians and asked them to sit alongside them in the VIP stands. After strained relations with a group of Olympians and internationals from Karachi for the past one year, PHF Chief Qasim Zia and Asif Bajwa personally came to media stands and persuaded former captain Islahuddin Siddiqui, Olympians Ayaz Mahmood, Qamar Ibrahim, Kamran Ashraf and other with them amid cheers of a the crowd.
Speaking on the occasion, Islahuddin alleged that on the directives of PHF management, he alongwith Ayaz Mahmood and Sardar Khan were not allowed to do commentary on Pakistan Television (PTV) despite invitations from the PTV. He claimed that the PHF wanted their pro-group to do the commentary. Version of PTV was not immediately known. Qasim Zia listened to the grievances of Islahuddin and denied such charges. “We are ready to investigate the issue,” he assured.
Later a meeting of PHF officials and estranged Olympians was held in the office of Qasim Zia in which both the groups decided to serve the cause of hockey to bring Pakistan among the top teams of the world.
Islahuddin on the occasion said he had never uttered a word against any one on personal basis and talked in the interest of sports. Joint Secretary of PHF Olympian Rana Mujahid Ali told a large gathering of the players that PHF had all the respects for the Olympians. It was decided during the meeting to resolve all outstanding issues and work for the cause and betterment of sport. Olympians Hanif Khan, Hasan Sardar, Ayaz Mahmood, Qamar Ibrahim, Kamran Ashraf, Salim Sherwani, Danish Kaleem, Arshad Chaudhry, PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa internationals Jan Muhammad, Muhammad Ali and others were also present on the occasion.
Pakistan deserved victory, Chinese captain: Captain Muhammad Imran expressed his satisfaction over Pakistan’s 3-0 win over China in the opening match of four-match hockey test series at Hockey Club of Pakistan on Wednesday. “It’s good start for us and we are hoping to do better in coming matches,” Imran told reporters in post match press conference in the ground. “Though our forwards did not score any goal but it was through their efforts that we earned penalty corners. It’s a team sport and everyone deserved the credit for the win,” he added. “We will be trying to further improve performance in the coming games,” China Captain Lu Fenghui commented. Pakistan played better and deserved to win,” he said. “Our players improved as the match progressed. But we would fight in the coming matches,” he maintained.
Third Pak-China Hockey match on Saturday: Third hockey match of the series of four-test matches between Pakistan and China would be played here on Saturday (Dec 24). The match will start at 2pm in Faisalabad Hockey Stadium Susan Road for which foolproof security arrangements are being made.
According to a spokesman of City District Government, both hockey teams will reach Faisalabad on Friday (Dec 23). He said that all arrangements had been completed for the accommodation of the hockey teams. He said that hockey lovers would be allowed to enjoy hockey match free of cost. After this match, both teams will proceed to Lahore for playing another match on December 25, he said.
