From London to London: History of Pakistan Olympics Hockey.

London Olympics 1948.

These were the first olympics in which Pakistan and India participated as separate nations. India obviously was the defending champion and was defending the title under its new flag. Ali Iqtidar Shah was the captain of the Pakistani team. Twelve hockey teams participated in this tournament and Pakistan reached the semi final where it was beaten 2-0 after a tough match from England. Pakistan played Holland for bronze medal but the match was drawn 1-1. This match was replayed the next day where Pakistan lost 1-4 and took the fourth position in its first ever olympic games.

Helsinki Olympics 1952.

The second olympic games that Pakistan participated were the Helsinki games where Muhammad Niaz Khan was the captain of the Hockey team. In these games too Pakistan was able to play the semi finals but
the result was again the same where they lost in the semi final to Holland and lost to England in the bronze medal match to secure the fourth position yet again.



Melbourne Olympics 1956.

The team the participated in the Melbourne Olympics was captained by Abdul Hameed Hameedi. Pakistan preformed really well in the tournament and reaching the semi final easily. The faced  England in the semi final and this time were able to beat them 3-3 to qualify for the final for the first time ever. On 6th December, 1956 Pakistan faced the World Champion India and after a memorable and controversial match lost to India 0-1 to secure the silver medal.



Rome Olympics 1960.

9th september 1960 was the historic day when Pakistan won their first gold medal in the olympic games . Pakistan were still led by a determined Abdul Hameed Hameedi who wanted to set aside the last year hardluck. Pakistan was able to win all their pool matches and cruised through to the final where they were to face the 32 year old Olympic champion India once again. Pakistan score as early as in the 11th minute through Naseer Bunda and that turned out to be the decisive goal. Pakistan were crowned the olympic champion for the first time ending India's dominance.


Tokyo Olympics 1964.

These were the first olympic games that were held in Asia and Pakistan were to defend their title. Manzoor Hussain was the captain of Pakistani team which once again outclassed all the other teams to reach the semi final quite easily where they faced and beat spain 3-0 to advance to the final and this time as well they faced India in the final. This match was one of the toughest match ever played with both teams playing really well, once again the score line was 0-1, when India scored the only goal on the penalty stroke in the second half to regain the title and win the gold.

Mexico Olympics 1968.

These were the second memorable games for Pakistan where they were able to regain the lost title. Pakistan beat Australia in the final by 2-1 to win the gold medal. Olympic champion India were not able to qualify for the final. The final match was again a thriller. Pakistan took the lead in the 16th minute thanks to center forward Rasheed. Australia leveled back in the 51st minute but Pakistan again took the lead through Asad Malik which was the decisive goal in the end. Pakistan team was captained by Tariq Aziz.

Munich Olympics 1972.

In these olympics Pakistan came to defend the title under the captaincy of Asad Malik. Pakistan once again won all the pool matches easily to qualify for the semi final. Here they faced India and were able to beat them easily by 2-0 to enter the final where they faced the host West Germany. Pakistan lost the final 0-1 but what happened next was shameful. Pakistan thought they were undone and should have won the match if the umpiring was just. They refused to take the silver medals and threw them and also

disrespected the German flag. Pakistan was banned from playing international hockey and were only allowed to participate again once they apologized.

Montreal Olympics 1976.

The only hopes of winning a medal for Pakistan was through hockey. Rasheed Junior was the captain of the Pakistani team when they arrived in Canada. Pakistan played well in the group stages as usual winning all the group matches and qualifying for the semi final where they faced Australia. Pakistan were on top when Shahnaz Sheikh was injured and had to leave. Pakistan looked out of sorts after that and lost the match 1-2. They played Holland in the bronze medal match and won it by 3-2.

Moscow Olympics 1980.

Pakistan did not participate in the Moscow Olympics due to the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. They kept the boycott conditional saying they will participate if the forces go back to Russia. 40 governing council members voted in favor of the boycott.

Los Angles Olympics 1984.

On 11th August, 1984 Pakistan stunned the world by winning the gold medal from no where. They were placed in a tough group where they drew most of their matches and winning only two. They were on equal points with Holland and if Holland was able to beat Kenya 5-0 Pakistan would have been out of the tournament. Pakistan did went through as Holland could manage only 3-0 score. They played Australia in the semi final and outclassed the top ranked team of the tournament winning the match 1-0, Pakistan then played West Germany in the final due to the sheer brilliance of its players were able to beat them 2-1 to secure the gold medal once again after 16 years. Manzoor Junior was the captain of Pakistan team.

Seoul Olympics 1988.

In Seoul Olympics Pakistan participated under the captaincy of Nasir Ali with high hopes to defend the title but showed one of the worst performances of the history. Pakistan were not even able to qualify of the semi  final and it was the first time after 1952 that Pakistan were not able to secure a medal in olympics. 

Barcelona Olympics 1992.

Due to the poor performance in the last olympic games there were no high hopes from the Pakistani team which participated under the captaincy of Shahbaz Ahmed. Pakistan played fine in the opening games and beat Holland in an important group match 3-2 to qualify for the semi final. Here they played a strong Germany team and lost the match 2-1 after a tough game. Pakistan once again played Holland for the bronze medal and were easily able to beat them to secure the third spot.

Atlanta Olympics 1996.

Pakistan had already lost hopes for an olympic medal before the games even started. One of the darkest moments in Pakistan hockey was ongoing. Almost 25 top players under the leadership of Shahbaz Ahmed refused to represent Pakistan until the coach and manager were changed. Pakistan Hockey Federation refused to do so and announced another squad for  the olympics. It was the second time after Independence that Pakistan was not able to enter the semi finals. they finished sixth in total, their worst ever olympic performance. 

Sydney Olympics 2000.

These were the first Olympics of the new millenium and Pakistan played really well to start off with. They won two matches and drew the remaining three to qualify for the semi final. Here they were to face South Korea, who stunned Pakistan to win the match 2-1. Pakistan them played Australia for the third position match and lost with a huge margin of 6-3. This was the worst loss of Pakistan ever in the olympics so far. Pakistan got 38 penalty corners in the tournament but were able to score only 9 goals out of which 7 were of Sohail Abbas. Pakistan team was led by Ahmed Alam.

Athens Olympics 2004.

Pakistan had the biggest delegation in their history for these olympics but they were not able to win a single medal. As usual all the hope were with Pakistan Hockey team who were just not able to play to their potential and were able to secure fifth spot. For the fifth position match they faced New Zealand and were able to beat them comprehensively by 4-2. The most notable thing of this match was the hattrick of Sohail Abbas, who scored a total of 11 goals in seven matches taking his tally of goals to 18 becoming the top goal scorer of Pakistan beating the previous best of 15 goals.

Beijing Olympics 2008.

These were the olympic games which can be easily forgotten as Pakistan were no way near their best in this tournament and after all the planning were only able to finish eighth in the tournament which was the worst ever performance in olympic history.

London  Olympics 2012.

Once again its the London olympics and Pakistan are participating in their 16th games so far. Pakistan have played a total of 101 matches so far in Olympics, winning 67, losing just 23 and drawing 11 of them. They have scored a total of 282 goals and only 124 goals have been scored against them.