Time was when Pakistan ruled the roost in international hockey. Between 1958 and 1990 for over three decades it was our team which dominated the world hockey and our national hockey team without fail used to reach the victory stand of every hockey tournament worth its name held in any part of the world. It was no mean achievement to remain at the top in any competitive sport for a such a long time non stop, its nearest parallel being is squash in which also Khan brothers of Peshawar called the shots in the world for a very very long time. Squash player of the caliber of Hasham Khan hasn’t been seen by the world also. During 1948 and 1990 we produced hockey players of the caliber of Hameedi, Waheed, Naseer Bunda, Zaka uddin Habib Ali Kiddie, Anwar Ahmad Khan, Atif, Muneer Daar, Matiullah, Hasan Sardar Sami ullah, Rashid junior, Shahbaz Sheikh, Islahuddin and Manzoor junior to mention a few, the likes of whom has not been seen by the world of hockey again.
Our journey on this long period of success in hockey started in 1960 when we became world champion in hockey in the Rome world Olympics by beating Indian hockey team in the final match by a solitary goal scored by our left in Naseer Bunda at a pass given by our right in Hameedi, thus sealing the fate of the match in our favour
It will be interesting for the readers to note that when Naseer Bunda was scoring the solitary goal which made Pakistan world champion in hockey God blessed him with a baby boy back in his home town Rawalpindi and as a token for remembering that momentous occasion his family members back home named his son as Hockey Khan a news which also made the headlines then.
