ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Army hammered Gilgit 30-0 in the 65th Muhammad Noor Khan National Hockey Championship 2019 match played at Abdul Sattar Edhi National Hockey Stadium, Karachi on Wednesday.
Army was scoring goals one after another while Gilgit was looking such a meager spectator in the match. Had Army not missed a couple of golden chances, the score line could have been more than four dozens. The federation must take notice that why such a weak team was selected by Gilgit Hockey Association. The basic aim of conducting the national championship is to find fresh talent, not to create new national records. What is the purpose of allowing such weak sides, which couldn’t pose any serious challenge to the opponents.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has announced that four matches would be held every day but on the second day, five matches were played. In other matches, mighty SSGC thrashed Islamabad 13-0, MPCL outclassed Fata 13-0, Navy thrashed Balochistan 6-0 and in the last match of the day, NBP beat Police 5-1.
PHF President Brig (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar was personally present at the occasion while Punjab Hockey Association (PHA) Secretary Col (R) Asif along with other federation officials and spectators were there to buck up their favourite teams and players.
It was complete mess on part of the PHF, who although had any army of officials deputed for the national championship, yet none was ready to accept responsibility and provide details to the sports journalists.
When this scribe contacted PHF President Brig (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar and informed him about the pathetic attitude of the federation’s officials, who were not ready to provide details of the matches and passing on the blame on others, Brig Khokhar took notice of the situation and all of a sudden same officials, who were making lame excuses, have started providing the results and other updates to the journalists.