Hockey Artisan Shahbaz Ahmad Senior Donates Signed Hockey Stick To London Museum

PESHAWAR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jun, 2017 ) : Hockey artisan Shahbaz Ahmad Senior Thursday donated a signed hockey stick to be kept in the Hockey Museum located at Woking in London which is home to a rich treasure of hockey memorabilia.

Born on September 1, 1968, Shahbaz Ahmad is also called as Maradona of Hockey and is con considered to be among the best forwards in the history of field hockey, signed the hockey stick which also carried signatures of other legends of hockey who captained Pakistan team winning three Olympic gold medals and four World Cup titles.

Shahbaz Ahmad donated a hockey stick to support by England Hockey and working in partnership with the FIH, The Hockey Museum is always looking for additions to its collection. On the sidelines of the ongoing Hockey World League semi-final round, the Secretary General of Pakistan Hockey Federation, Shahbaz Ahmad presented the signed stick to Sally Munday, the CEO of England Hockey at London�s Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Speaking on the occasion, Sally Munday thanked the PHF for this contribution, "Pakistan has a great hockey legacy. It is really nice to receive such a wonderful donation from the PHF," Sally Munday was quoted to saying in release issued by PHF.

The hockey big wigs legendries who won three Olympic Gold Medals as captain comprising 1960: Brigadier Abdul Hameed Hameedi (1960), Dr Tariq Aziz (1968), Manzoor Hussain Junior (1984) and four World Cup winning captains including 1971: Khalid Mahmood (1971), 1978: Islahuddin (1978), 1982: Akhtar Rasool (1982), Shahbaz Ahmad Senior (1994).

Shahbaz Ahmad, who also Secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation, joined the Pakistan National Hockey Team in 1986, and was captain of the national side, that led his team to the 1994 Men's Hockey World Cup victory.

"He played a major role in Pakistan victories in 1994 World Cup in Sydney, Australia and Champions Trophy 1994 in Lahore, Pakistan." After the Atlanta Games in 1996, he played for Dutch club Oranje Zwart and for German club Harvestehuder THC from Hamburg for a couple of years.

Nicknamed The Maradona of Hockey, he has represented Pakistan in the Champions Trophy tournaments held in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989; 3rd Asia Cup, New Delhi 1989; 7th Hockey World Cup, 1990 in Lahore, BMW Trophy Amsterdam, 1990, 11th Asian Games Beijing, 1990, 12th Champions Trophy, Melbourne and Hockey World Cup, Sydney, 1994.

He made his world famous run down against Australia in the same tournament. But in 1994, at the Sydney World Cup, in the pool match between Australia and Pakistan, Australia had a similar free hit just outside the Pakistan circle which was intercepted and moved onto Pakistan's Shahbaz who then executed his famous run with Australia's Ken Wark chasing him.

Shahbaz drew a covering defender and reverse-sticked the ball to Kamran Ashraf, who scored. Twenty years have passed, but the memories of his breathtaking runs against Australia, Germany and the Netherlands are etched in memories of millions.

He played at three Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in 1992. Shahbaz Ahmad was declared the best player in the 7th World Cup, Lahore, 1990, and received the BMW Trophy, Amsterdam, 1990. He has won gold medals in the 3rd Asia Cup, New Delhi, 1989; Asian Games, Beijing, 1990; silver medals in Champions Trophy, 1988; 7th World Cup, Lahore, 1990; BMW Trophy, Amsterdam, 1990; and a bronze medal in 8th Champions Trophy, 1986.

He was awarded the best player award in 1994 world cup Sydney as well. Shahbaz Ahmad is regarded as one of the best forwards in the game. He is the only player in the history of Field Hockey to win two consecutive 'Player of the Tournament' awards in the 1990 World Cup in Lahore, and at the 1994 World Cup in Sydney.

He leads the list of most-capped Pakistanis with 304 caps (a total of 304 games) in international field hockey. He was awarded Hilal-i-Pakistan (Crescent of Pakistan) Award by the President of Pakistan.

In recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of hockey, he was awarded the President's Pride of Performance Award in 1992 by the Government of Pakistan. In 2002, Shahbaz Ahmed retired from playing the game of field hockey for good.

In 2010, Shahbaz is performing his services as the district manager of (PIA) in Saudi Arabia. In 2015, he was appointed Secretary General of PHF. APP/ijz/mdi