P A K I S T A N Ball Hockey Federation

11.13.08
TRYOUT INVITATIONS SENT OUT

For those that have been selected by the PBHF management to attend the invitational tryouts, you should have received - via email - an invitation letter. Please read the letter carefully and contact Naveed Mohammed to confirm your attendance.

December 6th & 20th, 2008 - 9pm to 11pm
Click the Rinx logo to get directions

The city of Pilsen Zvolen

07.25.08
THE ROAD TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC BEGINS

The ISBHF have just announced the dates and location of the 2009 Seniors World Championships. The city of Pilsen Zvolen in the Czech Republic will play host to the 9th World Championship tournament June 13th to the 20th in 2009.

Preparations have already begun. The PBHF have gotten the ball rolling in planning tryouts, marketing and travel accommodations.

If you are interested in trying out for the 2009 edition of Team Pakistan, please contact the committee members below.

Naveed Mohammad - navm@rogers.com
Ijaz Chaudhry - ijazchaudhry@rogers.com

06.29.08
NEWFOUNDLAND NEWSPAPER FEATURES JUNIORS!

Click the image below to get to the article

Ball hockey: Pakistan style
WORLD JUNIOR BALL HOCKEY Sport gaining recognition in south asian country

KENN OLIVER
The Telegram

When you think of nations where hockey - be it the ice, ball or street variety - is gaining in popularity Pakistan probably doesn't come to mind.

But it's not totally unbelievable that a nation of field hockey enthusiasts - the national team has four world cups and three Olympic gold medals in the turfed sport - would be one to adopt another version of their national sport.

And, as it turns out, they're pretty good.

In 2007, a five-year-old Pakistani men's team captured the B-Pool at the 7th World Championship last June in Duesseldorf and Ratingen, Germany by beating, of all teams, the U.S.A. 5-2 in the championship game.

One of the members of that team, Ahmed Chaudhry, is the coach of the Pakistani Ball Hockey Federation's entry in this weekend's world junior ball hockey championship at Mile One Centre in St. John's.

"They have no concept of this sport, they don't really know what this hockey is. They always thought of it as played in a cold environment," Chaudhry explains of how hockey - our version of it - is viewed in Pakistan. "Our federation has really opened some eyes up to a new sport.

"It's gaining recognition there and they're very receptive to it."

Unlike the rest of the teams pounding the floor and wristing bright orange balls at Mile One this weekend, the Pakistani team is made up of Canadians. All the team's members live in either Montreal or the Greater Toronto Area.

But Chaudhry says the federation only requires players to have a heritage connection to the home country in order to represent the nation.

"All of our players have heritage there, either their mother or father are from Pakistan or they themselves were born there. As long as there is some link to the country.

"A lot of them follow the senior team and actually have aspirations of one day playing on (it)," Chaudhry explains.

The plan, ultimately, is to develop more and more hockey talent in Pakistan.

"Our hope is to bring some guys directly from Pakistan, but the sport hasn't picked up that much yet.

"Look for this team in the next five years to get some homegrown talent."

Committed group

Team Pakistan was a late entry into this world juniors after Austria dropped out.

"We got a call three to four months back and we had to put a team together in two months," says Chaudhry adding they didn't field the most skilled team, but a fiercely committed one. "One guy lost 50-pounds in three months getting ready for this tournament. In a two month span, what these guys have accomplished... we're very proud of them."

In 2001, Team Pakistan's first world ball hockey championship, they were dealt a beating by the Czech men's squad. They scored one goal in that game and today the ball sits in the president of the federation's hockey shrine in Pakistan. The junior edition of Team Pakistan didn't win a game in the prelimary round, suffering their worst defeat, again, at the hands of the Czech Republic, 12-1. But the loss to the Czechs, and that lonely goal scored by Safraz Motala, could be a sign of things to come in Pakistan ball hockey.

"We kept that ball, too."

koliver@thetelegram.com

06.28.08
PAKISTAN JUNIORS WIN B-POOL BRONZE MEDALS!!

Italy 3 Pakistan 0

The Pakistan Juniors played there 1st playoff game early in the day against Italy. Italy had just tied world powers Canada the night before. This was expected to be an easy win for the Italians. As it often happens with gritty Pakistani teams , the young men turned in their best effort of the tournament and were well within striking distance trailing 1-0 after 2 periods. Then a rash of very questionable calls by the Swiss and Czech officals led to FOUR 5 on 3 powerplays for the Italians. Pakistan was able to ward them off on two of these situations but did get scored on twice. This led to a final score of 3-0.

After the game the Pakistan Ball Hockey Federation did launch an official protest from their head office in Toronto. The protest was aimed at the questionable officiating and alleged racial slurs used against the Pakistani players by the Italian players. An initial apology was issued by the ISBHF but further developments may occur after the investigation is completed.

Pakistan 8 Bosnia 2

After a demoralizing loss in the Semifinals of the B pool, Pakistan bounced back with a strong effort to claim the Bronze medal in the B pool. Pakistan came out firing on all cylinders and were up 5-0 after the first period. In the last 2 frames fatigue was evident, both teams having played earlier in the day. Taha Ali (pictured) lead the way with 4 goals and 2 assists. Ali finished with 7 points in the tournament and sits 7th in the scoring race. This completes an eventful 12 months for the Pakistan Ball hockey program with the mens team claiming B pool Gold 12 months ago in Germany.

Both games of the day were telecast over broadband on the internet and were watched by Pakistani’s all over the world!

The Junior side was in tough playing 4 of the worlds top 5 teams for their first 4 games. They saved their best for last, almost knocking off Italy and finally claiming the bronze. In the next few weeks the quest will begin once again as the building blocks are put in place for the Mens team to defend their B pool title and more in the Czech Republic in June 2009.

06.27.08
PAKISTAN JUNIORS IN ST.JOHNS, NEWFOUNDLAND

The Pakistan Ball Hockey Federation is proud to announce the final roster of the 1st edition of the Junior Pakistan Team. This team will represent the Nation of Pakistan at this year's World Junior Championships taking place in St.John's, Newfoundland, Canada. This was a team comprised of dedicated individuals who made the hard decision to compete at such a high level even though not enough time was allocated for tryouts and practices due to the ISBHF awarding the final spot to Pakistan just at the end of April 2008.
The PBHF congratulates not only each and every player that had made the final cut, but also to the very special individuals that took their time out of their busy schedules and sacrificed their time and energy in getting the youngsters ready for such an event. Khalid Mughal, Junaid Mohammad, Ahmed Chaudhry, Joe Lucas and Chris Pinto all deserve high praise and accolades for accomplishing this major step in developing the youth for the future of Team Pakistan.

Click here to see the final Roster

Click here to Track the progress of the Junior Team

CLICK HERE FOR TEAM STATS

06.16.07
PAKISTAN WINS GOLD AFTER BEATING THE USA

06.14.07
Pakistan going for GOLD after downing Austria 5-3

IBHF - Both teams had a good tournament so far and showed on several occasions that they have potential for he B-Pool final, but only one of them could make its way up.
The Austrians, with an excellent Markus Maier killing all scoring opportunities from Pakistan, tried hard to score against the South Asians. But the Pakistani goalkeeper Ibad Khan - who is red hot this tournament - was excellent as well and prevented the Europeans from marking. After the Austrians missed many good opportunities to open the score in the second period, Pakistan made use of two penalties against Austria with Osman Buttar and Sami Choudhry hitting the net. More unluck was awating the Europeans, in the last minute Usama Mahmood put his team up 3:0 while Austria played 4 on 3. At 3:59 in the third, tournament scoring leader Thomas Raffel brought hope back into the team of the Alpine Republic by scoring his first in this game. Austria fought, but Pakistan scored twice within 35 seconds, with Sajjid Ayubi and Rayhan Malik putting the ball into the net beautifully set up by Azhar Kalair. Raffel answered only seconds later with his second goal. Austria put on a lot of pressure, but only hit the goal once more, one minute before the end of the game, while shorthanded, Timo Ettelmayr scored it with Raffel assisting.
Pakistan will now compete against the rival Americans - whom they have already beaten once in this tournament - for the B-Pool gold.

06.13.07
Goalie Ibad Khan flawless again against the Caymans 4-0

IBHF - With decorated defenceman and captain Ijaz Chaudhry injured for the rest of the tournament, and Pakistan having played 3 games in 24 hours with the Cayman Islands having 2 days of rest, this was not going to be an easy task. Coach Naveed Mohammed delivered an emotional peptalk to rally the Pakistan players before the game to ease the lingering effects of the India loss. Early and late, that is when Pakistan scored in the first period, Richard Farnum 0:56 and Sajjid Ayubi at14:08, and Ibad Khan kept a shutout in between winning 4-0. The South Asian club had no trouble keeping pace and building the lead some more in the second, Bilal Buttar doing the spade work at 4:44, and Khawaja tallied in the 14th minute. The Caribbean team pushed hard over the final half of the last period, but Khan remained bullet proof again and hasn't let in a goal all tournament - 2 games in a row to be exact! The game featured spotless penalty killing by Hisham Ali, Usama Mahmood, Richard Farnum, Sajjid Ayubi, and Rizwan Kalair. Pakistan now gets a much needed 28hr rest before advancing to the B-Pool Semi-final vs Austria, and the Caymanians challenge Mexico in the positional play downs.

06.12.07
India defeats Pakistan in relegation play 5-2

IBHF - The second relegation game in Düsseldorf faced the two South Asian teams from India and Pakistan. Pakistan glanced at the A-Pool slot of its eastern neighbour, whilst India was ready to fight for its place amongst the big clubs. The game started with a double bang: First Zuhair Kanji scored for India on a pass from Aish Esmail after 2:47. Pakistan reacted only 57 seconds later with Shaan Yusuf hitting the net on a pass from Emmad Khawaja. A super fast game developed, that saw many offensive actions, but no more goals were scored in the reminder of the first period. In the second period India accelerated its speed and got the lead back after 2:15 with Ravinder Hundal scoring. Some two minutes later Pakistan equalized again, this time Joseph Lucas put the ball into the net. Hundal took the lead back for India with 93 seconds remaining in the second. The game stayed close until Reggie Hayer scored on a power play for India at 9:31 in the third period. Not even two minutes passed before Navkanwal Sohal would definitively decide it for India. East Indian goalie Turab Bokhari played an excellent game and did not allow Pakistan any additional goals in the closing period. With this victory India stays in the A-Pool and faces tomorrow at 6.30 pm the Czech Republic in the quarter finals in Ratingen. While Pakistan will match up with the Cayman Islands at 1.30 pm in Düsseldorf in the B-Pool quarter final.

06.12.07
Pakistan edges the Americans 5-3

IBHF - At stake in this match was a chance for promotion to the A-Pool by qualifying for an A-Pool relegation game, the US needing a tie, and Pakistan a win. Goalkeepers Rick Breau and Dilshad Alvi were the stories in this game, keeping it tight at 1:1 until the third period, only Emmad Khawaja and Chris Housser managing to score. Richard Farnum of Pakistan slipped an early one by Breau at 1:34, and Rizwan Kalair repeated the feat several minutes later, created a 3:1 lead. The teams then traded power play goals, Housser getting his second, and Bilal Buttar his first, which he followed up with another on the PP minutes later. The USA falls to third and now faces the loser of Switzerland vs Greece in the B-Pool Quarter-finals. Pakistan advances to a relegation match against India tonight.

06.11.07
Osman Buttar leads charge in rout of Mexico 14-0

IBHF - The Mexican side held their own for most of the first period, and were only down a respectable 0:2 on a Joseph Lucas mid-period goal, and a late one by Usama Mahmood. The Central American club has come a long way since Pittsburgh, when they were largely represented by teenagers. A little older, a little wiser, and a clearer understanding of the sport is evident in their game. Maintaining that level of play at a sustained higher pace is something that will take more time though, and the significantly more experienced Pakistan wore them down in the second period scoring 8 times. Richard Farnum and Osman Buttar chipped in two each. Azhar Kalair, Sajjid Ayubi, Shaan Yusuf, and Mahmood contributed singles. Having established the maximum margin recognized for tie-break procedures, the Asian team eased off the gas and settled into a low-tempo control mode, adding only 4 more. Buttar was the highest point producer with 2 goals and 3 assists. The Pakistani team seems to have found its stride after a lack luster effort against Bermuda the day before. They now face the USA in a show down for one of the spots in the A-Pool relegation matches, with Pakistan needing a win. Mexico completes its round-robin against Bermuda.

CLICK HERE TO SEE GAME PICTURES

06.10.07
Pakistan felled by Bermuda 6-1

IBHF - Lots of clean action was the theme of this game. The Bermudans were on their game a touch more and their sniping a lot more, making hay with their chances. Chad Critchley scored two goals for the tropical team, and assisted on the 3rd goal by Trevor Angus. Marcel Bouwens boosted the lead to 4:0 by the end of the second period. The margin grew by another early in the third period on a goal from Matt Fleck, which was answered by Pakistan several minutes later, Sajjid Ayubi scoring. Angus picked up his second to close it out. Goaltender Benoit Lord was steady and kept his fellow islanders in control. Bermuda takes on the USA tomorrow in a battle of 1-0 teams to secure a spot in the A-Pool relegation game. Pakistan will play Mexico each badly needing a win.

CLICK HERE TO SEE GAME PICTURES