By Ijaz Chaudhry
Mohammad Akhlaq, the 1992 Olympics’ bronze medallist, has been involved in hockey coaching at various tiers for last many years. He was the manager of the Pakistan ‘A’ team which won the gold medal at the 2010 SAF games in Dhaka, Bangladesh, before becoming coach of the Pakistan ‘A’ on the tour of China later the same year.
Born in Sheikhupura, a town rich with hockey tradition having produced quite a few Olympic gold medalists and World Cup winners, hockey has been Akhlaq’s lifelong passion. A full back, right from the early playing days, first national recognition came in 1986 when he gained selection for the Pakistan under 18 team for the European tour.
He made his senior debut for Pakistan in the Perth test match against Australia in 1990. Then onwards, he was a permanent fixture in the Pakistan team till 1993. During this period, Akhlaq appeared in four Champions trophy tournaments, winning a silver (1991) and a bronze (1992). His finest achievement as a player came in the 1992 Olympics, where Pakistan won the bronze –country’s last Olympic medal.
“I was first dropped from the national squad in 1993. Though, later named in the national camp twice, I was never reported. I continued playing for my department, National Bank, in the domestic circuit till 1999. Meantime, I had started training young boys in my hometown, Sheikhupura. Within a few years, two of my pupils, brothers Imran and Irfan Yousaf had won selection for the national team; both appeared at the 2000 Olympics.”
“2004 was the year when my coaching skills got recognition for the first time. Abahani, one of the elite Bangladeshi clubs approached me for coaching. The club had a couple of Indian stars in Dhanraj Pillay and Sabu Virkay but our arch rivals ‘Mohammadan Sporting’ had a stronger lineup, including legendary Shahbaz, the great right in Tahir Zaman , that cracker of a centre forward Kamran Ashraf, among others.”
Akhlaq is employed in the National Bank’s sports department.
“The bank is involved in a lot of sports activities. Apart from the sports teams, the bank also employs a number of sportspersons of individual disciplines. Then we also organize tournaments of various sports. But, of course, hockey is my first love. I am the head coach of National Bank’s junior hockey squad and we reached the final of the national junior championships both in 2009 and 2010. Quite a few players from bank’s junior team have graduated to the Pakistan juniors and even the national senior side.”
Apart from coaching, Akhlaq has also carried out other important tasks at hockey events, national and international. He has acted as tournament director at the national senior and junior championships. In 2008, he was FIH’s tournament director at the 4-nation tournaments for both men and women at Dublin, Ireland.
