Pakistan hockey great Abdul Waheed Khan is no more

KARACHI: Eminent Olympian Abdul Waheed Khan, one of the two survivors of the 1960 Rome Olympics gold medal-winning Pakistan hockey team, died peacefully at his home in Karachi early Monday morning. He was 87.

Waheed is survived by a widow, two daughters and a son.

He will be laid to rest at Sakhi Hasan graveyard after Zuhr prayers on Tuesday.

Born in Raipur village of Bhopal district in India on Nov 13, 1934, Waheed migrated to Pakistan with his parents in 1949 and settled in PIB Colony in the metropolis.

Initially, he used to play football but switched to hockey and joined C.P. Gymkhana.

He donned national colours as a centre-forward for the series against Germany in 1954 and was among 33 probables named for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics but could not make the final team.

Waheed, however, was selected for the Rome Olympics where Pakistan clinched their maiden gold, ending the 28-year domination of arch-rivals India in the final with Naseer Bunda scoring the winning goal.

“The spirit of the greenshirts was high during the preceding camp where ‘Victory at Rome’ was depicted all around,” Waheed once told Dawn.

Then President Mohammad Ayub Khan received the victorious team at the Governor-General House in Karachi where he declared hockey as the national game.

Waheed’s next success came at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games where Pakistan again defeated India 2-0 with Atif and Waheed scoring one goal apiece. Waheed earned the distinction of being the highest scorer with 17 goals including two hat-tricks.

Waheed was again part of the Pakistan team that grabbed the silver medal at the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games.

He was appointed as manager and camp commandant of the Pakistan hockey team by retired Col A.I.S Dara in 1978 when Governor Punjab Sadiq Hussain Qureshi was at the helm of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

Waheed continued for about four years and the Pakistan team was on song winning the Quaid-e-Azam international hockey tournament at Lahore, the inaugural Champions Trophy at Lahore in 1978, the first-ever Pakistan-India hockey series at home, the 1978 World Cup in Buenos Aires and the Asia Cup.

Waheed, who joined Customs Preventive in 1957, also played for his department for many years and retired as Assistant Collector in 1994.

The former spearhead was decorated with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance by the government in recognition of his meritorious services.

Waheed, who also served as a selector of the national team, was highly respected for his views by his peers.

After his retirement, he joined Modern Club, owned by the family of former PIA chairman Nasir Jaffer, as administrator and served there for over 25 years until his death.

Jaffer Bilgrami adds: Widely regarded as Pakistan’s finest centre forwards, Waheed’s combination with inside right Abdul Hameed Hamidi and inside left Naseer Bunda could tear any rivals’ defence apart.

Waheed counts legendary centre-half Anwar Ahmed Khan, and lumanries Habib Ali Kiddie, Khurshid Aslam and Zafar Khan among his contemporaries.