A special ceremony was held in Islamabad on Wednesday in order to felicitate the Pakistan hockey team for qualifying for the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2024 in Ipoh, Malaysia, recently.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and entire Pakistan hockey squad also attended the event at the PM House.
“I would like to congratulate the Pakistan hockey team for making the nation proud at the international level,” said Sharif.
“Pakistan hockey was on a decline but now we can see that the good days of Pakistan are coming back due to your hard work,” he added.
Sharif also said that he will soon invite the officials of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) in order to have a detailed discussion about the revival of the sport in Pakistan.
Cheques, worth Rs1 million each, were also distributed among the members of the Pakistan hockey team in a bid to recognise their achievement.
Meanwhile, Pakistani athletes who have qualified for the Paris Olympics this year were also lauded during the ceremony. Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem also attended the prestigious event.
Pakistan team recently impressed during the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia but lost in the final to Japan on penalty shootout.
Pakistan hockey was at an all-time low when they failed to qualify for the Olympics, where they won three gold medals, for the third consecutive time earlier this year. Additionally, the Green Shirts also failed to qualify for the World Cup, where they bagged gold four times in the past, last year.
However, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup proved to be a breath of fresh air for hockey fans after Pakistan qualified for the final of the event for the first time in 13 years.
