News for 24 December 2023
All the news for Sunday 24 December 2023
Are Biennial World Cups Really the Way to Go?
Ashley Morrison
A week ago the Men's Junior Hockey World Cup came to an end in Malaysia, and just prior to this the Women's event came to its conclusion in Chile. Congratulations to Germany for winning their seventh Men's title since 1979 and the Netherlands for winning their fifth title since 1989. 
Tariq Bugti-led PHF delegation called on DG Sports Board Punjab
LAHORE - A delegation of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) led by newly-appointed President Tariq Hussain Massori Bugti called on Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail here at National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
Khokhar to contest removal after Tariq takes over as PHF chief
Mohammad Yaqoob | Kashif Abbasi
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president retired Brig. Khalid Sajjad Khokhar is set to contest the government’s decision of removing him from the post and replacing him with Tariq Hussain Mansoori Bugti.
Rob Lathouwers Hockey Series- Dar Academy's Tribute to Legend
By Ijaz Chaudhry
Rob Lathouwers in a Dar Academy shirt
Rob Lathouwers of Holland, one of the most respected umpires in the hockey world, passed away two years ago. He came from the most distinguished family of hockey umpires. His father Guust Lathouwers umpired in as many as three Olympics. Guust’s younger brother Piet Lathouwers umpired in two Olympics. Rob himself whistled in international hockey from 1978-1994 including three Olympics and two World Cups,
Guust Lathouwers Memorial Trophy, instituted in 1986 by the FIH, in the name of Rob's father is awarded every two years to an individual for outstanding services to the development and promotion of umpiring. Rob used to say, “I was never given this award perhaps as it was named after dad.”
He had a long-standing bond with Pakistan. “Pakistan is a second home to me,” he would say. Rob visited the country 12 times. In the 1980s & 90s, umpiring assignments brought him to Pakistan. In this century, Rob's link with Pakistan was mainly because of his affiliation with the Dar Hockey Academy. The Lahore-based academy established in 2006 quickly emerged as Pakistan's biggest production line of talented players and has been regularly contributing to the national teams for many years now.
And Rob's contribution had been tremendous. From 2010-2019, Dar Hockey Academy visited Holland six times, Belgium thrice and Germany also thrice for training tours. Rob always arranged all these trips: visas, schedule of matches, board & lodging, travel, etc. During all the tours to Holland, Hockey Club MOP in Vught have been the wonderful hosts of the Dar Academy. Rob's family's association with the MOP Club, in various roles, spans three generations. His uncle and brother had tenures as the club's president. At the time of his death, Rob was a member of the club's executive committee.
During the last decade or so, foreign teams have been reluctant to visit Pakistan because of terrorism and the country's poor international ranking. In this period, the only two visits by strong international teams which brought some excitement to Pakistani hockey lovers were largely due to the efforts of the great umpire. In 2012, on a request from Rob's closest Pakistani friend Olympic gold medallist Tauqeer Dar, who is the President of Dar Academy, Rob brought a team from Holland in Pakistan. Flying Dutch Veterans had several stars, including Olympic gold medallists and World Cup winners. The team played three matches in Lahore, including two in the jam-packed Johar Town stadium. Remember, terrorism in Pakistan was at its worst at the time.
Then in January 2017, through Rob’s efforts, a star-studded World XI played two highly publicised matches at the Abdul Sattar Edhi hockey stadium, Karachi, and National hockey stadium, Lahore. The composition of the touring World XI was amazing. It included big names from all the top hockey countries. The biggest stars were Australia's Grant Schubert (gold medals from Olympics, World Cup, and Commonwealth Games), Holland’s Rob Reckers (Olympic silver, European gold, and three Champions Trophy golds), New Zealand’s Phil Burrows (his country’s most capped player and top field goal scorer). There were also Argentine and Spanish players who were members of the national team at the time.
I once asked if there was a difficult team to umpire, Rob came out with a very interesting answer. “India/Pakistan games. Reason: there were 22 magicians on the field at least during those days. I had to concentrate more so as not to be distracted by the players’ artistry and neglect my job.”
Pakistan hockey, especially Dar Academy, remained close to his heart. Whenever an Academy boy got selected for Pakistan, he expressed great happiness.
In remembrance of its great benefactor the Dar Hockey Academy is organising a high-profile four-team tournament titled ‘Rob Lathouwers Hockey Series’ at the National Hockey Stadium, Lahore from 27th to 30th December.
As always, Dar HA's dynamic President, Olympic gold medallist Tauqeer Dar has roped in several sponsors for the event. 80 boys have been selected from four prominent hockey academies: Dar HA, Rana Zaheer HA, Khawaja Junaid HA (all from Lahore) and Guru Nanak HA (Nankana Sahib). The boys have been equally distributed among the teams in a manner that all four teams are balanced. Each side is named after great names of Pakistan hockey: Khawaja Mohammad Aslam (Olympian 1952), Dr Ghulam Rasool Chaudhry (Olympic gold medallist 1960), Afzal Manna (Olympic silver medallist 1964) and Khurshid Azam (Olympic silver medallist 1964).
A unique feature is the inclusion of two girls, one outfield player and one goalkeeper, in every side. As per the tournament regulations, at least one girl will be on the pitch for the match's entire duration. To ensure that both the girls are played in every match, each girl will have to be entered for a minimum of one-quarter.
Very distinguished coaches will mentor the teams: Danish Kaleem (World Cup winner 1994 ) has been coach/assistant coach with Pakistan’s national and junior sides. Khawaja Junaid (World Cup winner 1994) has coached Pakistan’s national and junior sides several times since 2000. Rehan Butt (Asian Games god medallist 2010) has been coach/assistant coach with Pakistan’s national and junior sides. Rana Zubair Riaz, head coach of the Rana Zaheer Academy, attended national camps and has played in many foreign leagues as a professional.
The four teams will play each other in a single league. The top two teams will then play the final on December 30th preceded by the 3rd/4th position playoff between the bottom teams of the league.
Ijaz Chaudhry writes on hockey & other sports. For more about him & his work, visit http://www.sportscorrespondent.info
KJHA to host Dutch Hockey Club Bully Ozendaal
LAHORE - The Khawaja Junaid Hockey Academy (KJHA) has extended a special invitation to Dutch Hockey Club, Bully Ozendaal, marking a historic seven-day visit scheduled for February 17 to 25, 2024.