eastern eye part 2
DESCRIPTION
Part 2 of previous interview with Shahid HussainTRANSCRIPT
EASTERN EYE February 26, 2010www.easterneye.eu 45
PAKISTAN’S hockey team are hoping to stage a revival on the world scene following years of disappointment and under-achievement.
The team arrived in India this week to take part in the Hockey World Cup in New Delhi, which gets underway on Sunday (28).
An 18-man squad led by full-back Zeeshan Ashraf will play arch-rivals and hosts In-dia in the opening game, amid diplomatic tensions between the neighbours.
“It is a tough test for us, but we have prepared extensively and hope that by winning the world title we will revive our hockey,” said Ashraf.
Pakistan, who have won a record four world titles, have faded badly in the last decade.
Their last major title was in 1994 at the World Cup in Aus-tralia. They finished eighth at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, their worst-ever placing.
The hosts are hardly faring any better and have not won a major title since the 1980 Mos-cow Olympics.
“We are hoping that this World Cup revives Asian glo-ry,” said Pakistan Hockey Fed-eration secretary and team manager Asif Bajwa.
“Pakistan and India are two important countries in Asian hockey and must do well.”
Pakistan boast the services of penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas, who has a world record tally of 306 goals.
This will be the Pakistan team’s first visit to India since 2006. Bajwa said the players will be heading to India as “ambassadors of peace”.
“Our players have always been ambassadors of peace and we hope to play hockey without any fears and hope that Indo-Pak sporting ties are revived,” said Bajwa.
“When Pakistan plays India it always sparks interest. I hope it’s a good match”.
Relations between the rivals have simmered since a No-vember 2008 attack on Indian capital Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
After facing India, Pakistan play Spain on March 2, Eng-land on March 4, South Africa on March 6 and Australia on March 8 in Group B.
Group A comprises of de-fending champions Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Canada, Argentina and also New Zealand.
SOUTH AFRICA will host the 2010 Champions League T20 tournament in September.
Twelve teams from seven countries will play in the event from September 10 to 26.
The first edition of the event, for the leading Twen-ty20 teams from the partici-pating countries, was played in India last year, with New South Wales beating Trinidad and To-bago in the final.
Cricket South Africa are the shareholders, with the Indian and Australian boards, in the Champions League.
The tournament will be played at the home venues of the two South African qualifi-ers and a third ground to be decided by CSA.
The participants will be three teams from the IPL, two from South Africa, Australia and England, and one each from Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the West Indies.
Pakistan up forWorld Cup shot
Africa to stageT20 league
no pain, but lots to gain
MMA (UCMMA) and the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA).
“There are so many promotions in this coun-try that it’s not always easy to tell who are the best fighters at each weight class because every promotion has its own champions and belts.
“Anyone can start up an organisation and have a number of fighters who can call them-selves the best in this country simply because they have won a belt.
“In sports like boxing, there are different bod-ies who sanction the fights and we lack that in this country.”
Hussain is one of the only desi professionals in the sport at the moment. One other name comes to mind is Kuljit “The Asian Sensation” Degun, who has won just once in ten bouts.
Hussain though is looking to unite the interest of the Asian community in MMA, as well as ap-pealing to all fight fans.
But you’re not likely to see him coming to the cage with the razzmatazz and colourful cos-tumes that others in the sport are known to do.
“All I want to do is get into the ring and be fo-cused. I’m not all about the flashy stuff and com-ing to the ring with dhol players or whatever.
“It’s all about getting down to business in the cage and coming out the other end as the win-ning fighter.”n To find out more about the growth of MMA in Pakistan, check out www.pak-mma.com. Any-one interested in finding out more and sponsor-ing Shah “No Pain” Hussain, email [email protected]