Sohail Abbas
Encyclopedia
Sohail Abbas (born 9 June 1977 in Karachi
) is a field hockey
defender and penalty corner specialist from Pakistan
. He is the highest scorer of goals in Hockey breaking Dhyan Chand
's record 274 goals for the most goals scored in international competition, with his current goal tally at 328. (on 30.06.2011).
's Holy Family Hospital
, Soldier Bazaar on 9 June 1977, Sohail is a former pupil of Karachi
's Habib Public School
, the school of many other hockey stars. In fact, it has been rightly remarked that hockey is taught as a subject in this school.
He came from a sporting family; his father, Syed Iftikhar Hussain, was a former first-class cricketer. He represented Karachi
as well as Pak Crescent Club, famous for producing Zaheer Abbas
. Sohail is eldest of three brothers. Raheel Abbas his younger one is an IT professional and a Professional / First Class Cricketer also involve in Media Doings as well. Sohail has often said that his inspiration came from his uncle, Safdar Abbas,a left-winger who scored against Argentina during the 1973 World Cup as 16-year-old boy. Sohail is keen to emphasize the part played by Safdar, who, Sohail says, inspired him as a youngster.
As a young hockey player, his potential was not realized for some time. He had difficulty making an impact on the professional hockey leagues 1995-98. Like many Pakistani hockey players, he is a product of the Pakistan Junior Squad. An impressive performance in the 18th Junior National Hockey U18 Championship at Quetta
1995 gained him a place in Pakistan Junior squad which drew their home series 2-2 against Germany Juniors. He was not selected for the tour of Netherlands, Germany and Poland, playing next for Pakistan in the 3rd Junior Asia Cup at Singapore
in 1996. He staged a comeback in the Pakistan Junior side in 1997, a side which beat Germany Junior in four consecutive test matches.
Four months later, he was dropped from the Pakistan Junior squad. Pakistan Junior team manager Samiullah Khan, now the manager of the national team, and coach Ayaz Mahmood were not convinced to include him for the 1997 World Cup staged in Milton Keynes
- an underwhelming squad that failed to making it to the Junior World Cup semi-finals for the first time in the cup's 25-year history. Finally, he made his debut the following year on the national team and has since become arguably hockey's most prolific goalscorer of all time.
Sohail, who struck 20 goals in 1998, was in terrific form in 1999 when Pakistan won the Azlan Shah Cup for the first time and got silver in Asia Cup
. He was leading scorer in 8th Pakistan-India Series (10 goals), 9th Azlan Shah Cup (12 goals) and 5th Asia Cup
(16 goals). Of 16 Asia Cup
's goals, seven were against Sri Lanka which allowed him a place in a select band of nine players who registered double hat-tricks in international circuits for Pakistan. His 60 goals in 1999 beat the world record of Litjens (58 goals) and national record of Sardar (50 goals) in one calendar year.
's Lala S.M. Ayub Hockey Stadium on Saturday, 28 February 1998. Pakistan manager Islahuddin Siddiqui effected a substitution midway through the tie, but failed to make an impact. He failed to score in three penalty corners as Pakistan won 4-1. The following day, on 1 March 1998, in the second test at Rawalpindi
's Army Hockey Stadium, Abbas announced his arrival on the international scene in dramatic fashion, scoring a drag flick from a penalty corner which proved to be the match-winner in Pakistan's 2-1 victory.
When the rule was changed after the 1998 World Cup, he was not considered for the 16th Commonwealth Games
by coach Shahnaz Sheikh
. But he staged a comeback to win silver in Lahore
's 20th CT and bronze in Bangkok
's 13th Asian Games
in the same year.
Abbas has scored 300 international goals as of 9 December 2009, surpassing the 22-year-old record of Dutch penalty corner specialist Paul Litjens. He retired in December 2004, just after the Champions Trophy
in Lahore
along with another Pakistani great Waseem Ahmad
, when he was only 27 years of age but on 4 July 2006, he has decided to return to the international hockey. Since the summer of 2005 he and Waseem have both played for Dutch club Rotterdam
. He struck his 33rd goal to break Mark Hager
's 9-year old record. His 33rd goal emerged from penalty-mark when he converted 66th minute penalty-stroke against India in Pakistan's 2-1 win on fourth day of 26th Champions Trophy. The Australian striker had registered 32 goals from 1985 to 1995. He took 11 editions for his 32 goals while Sohail did the needful in his 6th CT and added another on 12 December tie to make his final Champions' Trophy total 34 .
Sohail was also leading scorer at the 2000 Olympic Games, Athens
, with 11 goals, and of the 9th Indo-Pakistan series, with seven goals. Mixing his impressive hitting abilities with drag-flicks, Abbas has proved himself to be the world's most consistent drag-flick converter, his success rate over 65% mark. Sohail was the key figure when Pakistan won a place at the Athens Olympic Hockey Tournament by finishing third at Madrid
's Olympic Qualifier on 13 March 2004. Three times Olympic Champion Pakistan also qualified for Sydney Olympics four years ago by taking part in Osaka 's Olympic Qualifier in March 2000. Pakistan finished second on the Japanese soil, with Sohail scoring 13 goals to finish as leading marksman. Sohail was also leading marksman at Madrid with nine goals. Four of these nine goals were against India in league encounter when he converted four out of four penalty corners. At Athens, he became the record Pakistani goalscorer in a single Olympiad, beating the 10-goal record of centre-forward Hassan Sardar, created at the Los Angeles Olympiad twenty years beforehand. Only Sohail, Sardar and Abdul Rashid Jr. have topped the goal scoring-chart in Olympics hockey. Rashid did it in 1968 when he was joint leader with Brian Glencross (Australia) and Prithipal Singh (India).
Sohail matched the world record on 4 October 2000 during the fifth test of the current series at the stadium named after Hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand ; part of three gold medal-winning Indian teams in the Olympics - Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932 and Berlin 1936, where he was the captain. Sohail scored his 267th international goal at this historic venue from the 65th minute penalty-stroke. Sohail was already the holder of three world records in his six-year international career, before Amritsar's landmark. He is the scorer of the highest number of goals (60) in a calendar year as well as the holder of the title of fastest century and double century of goals in international hockey. He reached double century of goals on 17 August 2003 at Wagener stadium when he struck twice in 6-5 thrilling win over Argentina during 25th CT.
Sohail is among the seven Pakistanis who completed 200-plus caps in the international hockey circuit. Others are Shahbaz Ahmed
, Tahir Zaman
, Mansoor Ahmed
, Muhammad Usman, Wasim Ahmed and Muhammad Nadeem. He played his 200th international hockey match on 1 July 2004 when Pakistan clashed with the Netherlands in 4-Nation Rabobank Trophy 2004 at Amstelveen's Wagener Stadium.
It was fifth CT for Sohail, and, in the process, he became the all-time leading scorer of Pakistan in this prestigious annual event, topping Hanif Khan's 21-goal record by converting the PC against Argentina in the 7th minute. It was his 22nd goal of CT history.
Sohail can easily be regarded as the best short corner expert in world hockey. Argentina's Jorge Lombi and Netherlands's Taeke Taekema are second in line. He is a natural short corner expert with a very strong wrist, a powerful drag flick and a perfected dummy "body dodge" action. He was Pakistani candidate for the FIH Player of the Year award in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004 but failed to outpoint Jay Stacy (Australia), Stephan Veen (Netherlands), Florian Kunz (Germany), Teun de Nooijer (Netherlands) and Jamie Dwyer (Australia) respectively.
Sohail, who struck 20 goals in 1998, was in terrific form in 1999 when Pakistan won the Azlan Shah Cup for the first time and got silver in Asia Cup. He was leading scorer in 8th Pakistan-India Series (10 goals), 9th Azlan Shah Cup (12 goals) and 5th Asia Cup (16 goals). Of 16 Asia Cup's goals, seven were against Sri Lanka which allowed him a spot in a select band of nine players who registered double hat-trick in international circus for Pakistan. His 60 goals in 1999 shattered the world record of Litjens (58 goals) and national record of Sardar (50 goals) in one calendar year.
Sohail's extraordinary talent and goal scoring prowess mean that he is a target of hockey clubs all over the world. He gets offers from clubs of numerous countries and represented Dutch club Amsterdam in 1999. In Netherlands, the hockey league, like soccer, runs for as long as six months with a winter break in between. Due to his commitments with the Pakistan team, Sohail only played for nine weeks and that too in two spells. He was provided with free lodging and boarding, offered a car and paid as much as 700 dollars per match.
Time spent in Netherlands him tone his skills and he pays warm tribute to the club boss Jons Hanset, who helped make his stay enjoyable. Twelve goals in 5 matches and helped his team qualify for the play-offs was no mean feat and he has no hesitation in stating that Netherlands remains his favorite country to visit. Close to his mother, he describes her as "my greatest supporter. I credit her with all I have achieved." His heroes of different sports are Shahbaz Ahmed Sr (hockey), Diego Maradona (soccer) and Andre Agassi (tennis).
Sohail is quickest to complete the century of goals, reaching the three figures, when Pakistan thrashed Britain 8-1 in Sydney Olympics on 18 September 2000 (His 50th goal was recorded on 12 August 1999 when he got hat-trick against Spain during Rabobank Challenge at Amstelveen). Thus he completed his century in world record timing of two years, six months and 18 days. He was the sixth Pakistani to reach three figures in international arena after Hassan Sardar (150 goals), Tahir Zaman (134 goals), Kamran Ashraf (129 goals), Hanif Khan (127 goals) and Manzoorul Hassan Sr (101 goals).
He got eight goals at Sydney after handsome display at Osaka's Olympic qualifiers. His achievement at Japan was all the more remarkable considering he had only just returned to the fray after spending four months on the sidelines with a groin injury. His total goals in 2000 were 26, followed by 37 in 2001.
Sohail attracted worldwide attention in 2002 when he emerged as the joint highest scorer along with Argentina's Jorge Lombi in the 10th World Cup at Kuala Lumpur. And all 10 goals that Sohail scored at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in the Malaysian capital were off PCs.
He managed 44 goals in 2002 and added yet another feather to his cap in that year. Hasan Sardar was Pakistan's top scorer with 150 goals before Abbas unveiled his goal-scoring prowess. During the Six-Nation Invitational tournament at Kuala Lumpur, a month before World Cup 2002, Sohail scored his 151st international goal, becoming Pakistan's all-time highest scorer in international hockey. He struck nine goals as Pakistan managed bronze medals in 17th Commonwealth Games hockey tournament at Belle Vue Regional Hockey Center at Manchester. He struck hat-trick when Pakistan routed South Africa 10-2 in bronze-decider on 4 August 2002. Later, in the 24th CT in Cologne, Germany, Sohail played a major role and Pakistan finished third ahead of India.
The full-back, who joined Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on 27 July 2004, had scored 274 goals in 224 matches.
He was back bone of his previous organization Pakistan WAPDA in domestic hockey. WAPDA is currently national champion of Pakistan and their back-to-back triumphs, thanks to Sohail, recorded during 50th and 51st National Championship at Karachi 2003 and Peshawar 2004 respectively. Sohail also helped his previous domestic team HBL to reach the final of the National Championship in 2001.
Sohail managed 28 goals in 2003 and for the sixth time running, he finished as annual leading scorer for Pakistan. He struck five goals as Pakistan met success in Ipoh's 12th Azlan Shah Cup in March 2003 but later on Pakistan went to Australia without him, Nadeem Ahmed and Wasim Ahmed as the trio had defied the PHF by skipping the national training camp to play professional league in Germany. Sohail and Wasim represented German club Harvestehuder THC of Hamburg while Nadeem played for Gladbacher HTC. It was Sohail's third spell as pro hockey player after Dutch league 1999 and Malaysian League 2002 (he represented Bank Simpanan Nasional BSN along with Kashif Jawwad).
Nadeem did return in time for the trials for the Australia-bound squad, but he was not considered for selection and Pakistan suffered embarrassment, finishing last in both twin 4-Nation tournaments at Perth and Sydney.
Nadeem, later on, was reprimanded for his act while Sohail and Wasim were not allowed to appear in Pakistan-China series in July. They faced an inquiry committee on 14 July 2003 during which they regretted the mistake. Both were allowed to join the camp and seven days later were included in the team for the 25th CT. But their inclusion only came after hefty fines of Rs. 100,000 each on the players. PHF inquiry committee had also recommended a one-year ban on the duo. But PHF President Gen. Muhammad Aziz Khan brought an amicable end to the controversy when he said that the under-fire players will compete in the CT in better national interest.
Sohail won bronze in Amstelveen's CT, followed by silver in KL's 6th Asia Cup. The PHF sent under-strength team at the First Afro Asian Games hockey event at Hyderabad Deccan 2003 by resting Sohail saying he needed rest after the CT and Asia Cup.
Sohail also started 2004 in whirlwind fashion and won the top scorer award in 13th Azlan Shah Cup at Bukit Jalil Complex. He struck ten goals with the help of two hat tricks against India and Germany. He managed one double hat trick and 21 hat tricks in international hockey so far : a record unmatched in international field hockey. Sohail recorded 59 goals in 2004 and was well poised to break his own world record of most goals in calendar year (60 in 1999) before retirement.
Despite such tremendous show, Sohail failed to win gold in a major event. He represented Pakistan in Olympics 2000, 2004 and World Cup 1998 and 2002, but Pakistan failed to win any medal. He was silver medalist in CT of 1998 and bronze medalist in CT 2002, 2003 and 2004. He also appeared in CT of 1999 and 2001.
Sohail participated in the 2010 Hockey World Cup which turned out to be a major flop for Pakistan as they finished last in the tournament. Sohail subsequently missed the Commonwealth Games
where Pakistan finished sixth after losing to India and South Africa. He was recalled to the Pakistan team for the 2010 Asian Games
as Pakistan plan to win that tournament National Goal-keeper Salman Akbar
was also recalled He started the tournament well when he scored 2 goals for Pakistan as the floored Japan 8-2 in the asian games
Sohail's First Major Gold Medal was In 2010 Asian Game Held at China.Abbas's finest moment for Pakistan continued to be the 2010 Asian Games
as the was part of the team which beat South Korea 4-3 on penalty strokes. Abbas however missed his penalty. Malaysia defeated India 4-3 and played Pakistan in the final. On 25 November 2010 the Malaysia v Pakistan final started during the 28th minute of the match Abbas scored a penalty corner to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead. Rehan Butt
scored a goal 4 minutes after half time to extend the lead to 2-0. Malaysia failed to score and the whistle blew with Pakistan winning the 2010 Asian Games Hockey Tournament. This became Pakistan's first victory at the Asian Games since 1990 and their first victory in a major international tournament since the 1994 Champions Trophy. The 16 year drought ended and Pakistan and Sohail Abbas put a poor World Cup and Commonwealth Games behind them to give their country their first major trophy in 16 years.
1999 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
2000 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
2003 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
2004 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
1999 Hockey Asia Cup
2003 Hockey Asia Cup
2009 Hockey Asia Cup
2011 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
2003 Hockey Champions Trophy
2004 Hockey Champions Trophy
1998 Asian Games
2002 Hockey at the Commonwealth Games
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
) is a field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
defender and penalty corner specialist from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. He is the highest scorer of goals in Hockey breaking Dhyan Chand
Dhyan Chand
Dhyan Chand ; born August 29, 1905 in Allahabad, United Provinces, British India. – Died:December 3, 1979), was an Indian field hockey player, regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players of all time...
's record 274 goals for the most goals scored in international competition, with his current goal tally at 328. (on 30.06.2011).
Early life
Born at KarachiKarachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
's Holy Family Hospital
Holy Family Hospital
Holy Family Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, was founded in 1948 by the Medical Mission Sisters, a Roman Catholic religious order for women based in Philadelphia, USA. This was at a time when very few health care facilities existed in Pakistan....
, Soldier Bazaar on 9 June 1977, Sohail is a former pupil of Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
's Habib Public School
Habib public school
Habib Public School Karachi is a boarding university-preparatory school located in Karachi, Pakistan.-History:The school started on 7 July 1959 with four blocks of buildings: Ahmed House, Ghulam Ali House, Dawood House, and Sharif House. The first administrator of the school was late Mr...
, the school of many other hockey stars. In fact, it has been rightly remarked that hockey is taught as a subject in this school.
He came from a sporting family; his father, Syed Iftikhar Hussain, was a former first-class cricketer. He represented Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
as well as Pak Crescent Club, famous for producing Zaheer Abbas
Zaheer Abbas
Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani , popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a former Pakistani cricketer, regarded as one of the finest batsman produced by that country. He is widely known as the "Asian Bradman", a reference to former Australian great Sir Donald Bradman...
. Sohail is eldest of three brothers. Raheel Abbas his younger one is an IT professional and a Professional / First Class Cricketer also involve in Media Doings as well. Sohail has often said that his inspiration came from his uncle, Safdar Abbas,a left-winger who scored against Argentina during the 1973 World Cup as 16-year-old boy. Sohail is keen to emphasize the part played by Safdar, who, Sohail says, inspired him as a youngster.
As a young hockey player, his potential was not realized for some time. He had difficulty making an impact on the professional hockey leagues 1995-98. Like many Pakistani hockey players, he is a product of the Pakistan Junior Squad. An impressive performance in the 18th Junior National Hockey U18 Championship at Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
1995 gained him a place in Pakistan Junior squad which drew their home series 2-2 against Germany Juniors. He was not selected for the tour of Netherlands, Germany and Poland, playing next for Pakistan in the 3rd Junior Asia Cup at Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in 1996. He staged a comeback in the Pakistan Junior side in 1997, a side which beat Germany Junior in four consecutive test matches.
Four months later, he was dropped from the Pakistan Junior squad. Pakistan Junior team manager Samiullah Khan, now the manager of the national team, and coach Ayaz Mahmood were not convinced to include him for the 1997 World Cup staged in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
- an underwhelming squad that failed to making it to the Junior World Cup semi-finals for the first time in the cup's 25-year history. Finally, he made his debut the following year on the national team and has since become arguably hockey's most prolific goalscorer of all time.
Sohail, who struck 20 goals in 1998, was in terrific form in 1999 when Pakistan won the Azlan Shah Cup for the first time and got silver in Asia Cup
Asia Cup
The ACC Asia Cup is an international men's One Day International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. It was originally scheduled to be held every two years...
. He was leading scorer in 8th Pakistan-India Series (10 goals), 9th Azlan Shah Cup (12 goals) and 5th Asia Cup
Asia Cup
The ACC Asia Cup is an international men's One Day International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. It was originally scheduled to be held every two years...
(16 goals). Of 16 Asia Cup
Asia Cup
The ACC Asia Cup is an international men's One Day International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. It was originally scheduled to be held every two years...
's goals, seven were against Sri Lanka which allowed him a place in a select band of nine players who registered double hat-tricks in international circuits for Pakistan. His 60 goals in 1999 beat the world record of Litjens (58 goals) and national record of Sardar (50 goals) in one calendar year.
International career
When he made his international debut during the 7th Pak-India series 1998, his role was only to come from the bench for penalty corner drills. His debut was at PeshawarPeshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
's Lala S.M. Ayub Hockey Stadium on Saturday, 28 February 1998. Pakistan manager Islahuddin Siddiqui effected a substitution midway through the tie, but failed to make an impact. He failed to score in three penalty corners as Pakistan won 4-1. The following day, on 1 March 1998, in the second test at Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
's Army Hockey Stadium, Abbas announced his arrival on the international scene in dramatic fashion, scoring a drag flick from a penalty corner which proved to be the match-winner in Pakistan's 2-1 victory.
When the rule was changed after the 1998 World Cup, he was not considered for the 16th Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
by coach Shahnaz Sheikh
Shahnaz Sheikh
Shahnaz Sheikh is a famous hockey player from Pakistan. He was born at Sialkot, Pakistan.A forward, Shahnaz Sheikh played between 1969 and 1978, he was capped 68 times and scored 45 goals. He won Silver in the 1972 Olympics and Bronze in the 1976 Olympics . Shahnaz won 1971 World Cup and was...
. But he staged a comeback to win silver in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
's 20th CT and bronze in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
's 13th Asian Games
Asian Games
The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1978 Games. Since the 1982 Games they have been organised by the...
in the same year.
Abbas has scored 300 international goals as of 9 December 2009, surpassing the 22-year-old record of Dutch penalty corner specialist Paul Litjens. He retired in December 2004, just after the Champions Trophy
2004 Men's Champions Trophy (field hockey)
The 2004 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy took place in the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan from December 4 to December 12, 2004.- :Head Coach: Bernhard Peters# Ulrich Bubolz # Adrian Kühn # Ulrich Klaus# Philipp Crone...
in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
along with another Pakistani great Waseem Ahmad
Waseem Ahmad
Waseem Ahmad is a Pakistan field hockey player and ex- captain of Pakistan hockey team...
, when he was only 27 years of age but on 4 July 2006, he has decided to return to the international hockey. Since the summer of 2005 he and Waseem have both played for Dutch club Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
. He struck his 33rd goal to break Mark Hager
Mark Hager
Mark William Hager is a former field hockey player from Australia, who competed in two Summer Olympics for his native country. After the fourth place in 1988 he won the bronze medal with The Kookaburras at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.-References:*...
's 9-year old record. His 33rd goal emerged from penalty-mark when he converted 66th minute penalty-stroke against India in Pakistan's 2-1 win on fourth day of 26th Champions Trophy. The Australian striker had registered 32 goals from 1985 to 1995. He took 11 editions for his 32 goals while Sohail did the needful in his 6th CT and added another on 12 December tie to make his final Champions' Trophy total 34 .
Sohail was also leading scorer at the 2000 Olympic Games, Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, with 11 goals, and of the 9th Indo-Pakistan series, with seven goals. Mixing his impressive hitting abilities with drag-flicks, Abbas has proved himself to be the world's most consistent drag-flick converter, his success rate over 65% mark. Sohail was the key figure when Pakistan won a place at the Athens Olympic Hockey Tournament by finishing third at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
's Olympic Qualifier on 13 March 2004. Three times Olympic Champion Pakistan also qualified for Sydney Olympics four years ago by taking part in Osaka 's Olympic Qualifier in March 2000. Pakistan finished second on the Japanese soil, with Sohail scoring 13 goals to finish as leading marksman. Sohail was also leading marksman at Madrid with nine goals. Four of these nine goals were against India in league encounter when he converted four out of four penalty corners. At Athens, he became the record Pakistani goalscorer in a single Olympiad, beating the 10-goal record of centre-forward Hassan Sardar, created at the Los Angeles Olympiad twenty years beforehand. Only Sohail, Sardar and Abdul Rashid Jr. have topped the goal scoring-chart in Olympics hockey. Rashid did it in 1968 when he was joint leader with Brian Glencross (Australia) and Prithipal Singh (India).
Sohail matched the world record on 4 October 2000 during the fifth test of the current series at the stadium named after Hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand ; part of three gold medal-winning Indian teams in the Olympics - Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932 and Berlin 1936, where he was the captain. Sohail scored his 267th international goal at this historic venue from the 65th minute penalty-stroke. Sohail was already the holder of three world records in his six-year international career, before Amritsar's landmark. He is the scorer of the highest number of goals (60) in a calendar year as well as the holder of the title of fastest century and double century of goals in international hockey. He reached double century of goals on 17 August 2003 at Wagener stadium when he struck twice in 6-5 thrilling win over Argentina during 25th CT.
Sohail is among the seven Pakistanis who completed 200-plus caps in the international hockey circuit. Others are Shahbaz Ahmed
Shahbaz Ahmed
Shahbaz Ahmad is a former field hockey player from Pakistan who is also known as Shahbaz Ahmad Sr. He is considered to be among the best forwards in the history of field hockey...
, Tahir Zaman
Tahir Zaman
Tahir Zaman is a former hockey player from Pakistan who had played in the 1992 Olympics. Zaman, who was team captain, later served as coach for the team and took part in the 2002 Olympics. Zaman also took part in the Olympic Solidarity Hockey Coaching Course as part of the International Hockey...
, Mansoor Ahmed
Mansoor Ahmed
Mansoor Ahmed is a hockey player from Pakistan.A Goalkeeper, Mansoor Ahmed played between 1986 and 1997, he was capped 238 times. He won Bronze in the 1976 Olympics and Gold at the 1984 Olympics. Ahmed was a runner-up at the 1990 World Cup, but won 1984 World Cup.In 1996, at the Olympics in...
, Muhammad Usman, Wasim Ahmed and Muhammad Nadeem. He played his 200th international hockey match on 1 July 2004 when Pakistan clashed with the Netherlands in 4-Nation Rabobank Trophy 2004 at Amstelveen's Wagener Stadium.
It was fifth CT for Sohail, and, in the process, he became the all-time leading scorer of Pakistan in this prestigious annual event, topping Hanif Khan's 21-goal record by converting the PC against Argentina in the 7th minute. It was his 22nd goal of CT history.
Sohail can easily be regarded as the best short corner expert in world hockey. Argentina's Jorge Lombi and Netherlands's Taeke Taekema are second in line. He is a natural short corner expert with a very strong wrist, a powerful drag flick and a perfected dummy "body dodge" action. He was Pakistani candidate for the FIH Player of the Year award in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004 but failed to outpoint Jay Stacy (Australia), Stephan Veen (Netherlands), Florian Kunz (Germany), Teun de Nooijer (Netherlands) and Jamie Dwyer (Australia) respectively.
Sohail, who struck 20 goals in 1998, was in terrific form in 1999 when Pakistan won the Azlan Shah Cup for the first time and got silver in Asia Cup. He was leading scorer in 8th Pakistan-India Series (10 goals), 9th Azlan Shah Cup (12 goals) and 5th Asia Cup (16 goals). Of 16 Asia Cup's goals, seven were against Sri Lanka which allowed him a spot in a select band of nine players who registered double hat-trick in international circus for Pakistan. His 60 goals in 1999 shattered the world record of Litjens (58 goals) and national record of Sardar (50 goals) in one calendar year.
Sohail's extraordinary talent and goal scoring prowess mean that he is a target of hockey clubs all over the world. He gets offers from clubs of numerous countries and represented Dutch club Amsterdam in 1999. In Netherlands, the hockey league, like soccer, runs for as long as six months with a winter break in between. Due to his commitments with the Pakistan team, Sohail only played for nine weeks and that too in two spells. He was provided with free lodging and boarding, offered a car and paid as much as 700 dollars per match.
Time spent in Netherlands him tone his skills and he pays warm tribute to the club boss Jons Hanset, who helped make his stay enjoyable. Twelve goals in 5 matches and helped his team qualify for the play-offs was no mean feat and he has no hesitation in stating that Netherlands remains his favorite country to visit. Close to his mother, he describes her as "my greatest supporter. I credit her with all I have achieved." His heroes of different sports are Shahbaz Ahmed Sr (hockey), Diego Maradona (soccer) and Andre Agassi (tennis).
Sohail is quickest to complete the century of goals, reaching the three figures, when Pakistan thrashed Britain 8-1 in Sydney Olympics on 18 September 2000 (His 50th goal was recorded on 12 August 1999 when he got hat-trick against Spain during Rabobank Challenge at Amstelveen). Thus he completed his century in world record timing of two years, six months and 18 days. He was the sixth Pakistani to reach three figures in international arena after Hassan Sardar (150 goals), Tahir Zaman (134 goals), Kamran Ashraf (129 goals), Hanif Khan (127 goals) and Manzoorul Hassan Sr (101 goals).
He got eight goals at Sydney after handsome display at Osaka's Olympic qualifiers. His achievement at Japan was all the more remarkable considering he had only just returned to the fray after spending four months on the sidelines with a groin injury. His total goals in 2000 were 26, followed by 37 in 2001.
Sohail attracted worldwide attention in 2002 when he emerged as the joint highest scorer along with Argentina's Jorge Lombi in the 10th World Cup at Kuala Lumpur. And all 10 goals that Sohail scored at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in the Malaysian capital were off PCs.
He managed 44 goals in 2002 and added yet another feather to his cap in that year. Hasan Sardar was Pakistan's top scorer with 150 goals before Abbas unveiled his goal-scoring prowess. During the Six-Nation Invitational tournament at Kuala Lumpur, a month before World Cup 2002, Sohail scored his 151st international goal, becoming Pakistan's all-time highest scorer in international hockey. He struck nine goals as Pakistan managed bronze medals in 17th Commonwealth Games hockey tournament at Belle Vue Regional Hockey Center at Manchester. He struck hat-trick when Pakistan routed South Africa 10-2 in bronze-decider on 4 August 2002. Later, in the 24th CT in Cologne, Germany, Sohail played a major role and Pakistan finished third ahead of India.
The full-back, who joined Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on 27 July 2004, had scored 274 goals in 224 matches.
He was back bone of his previous organization Pakistan WAPDA in domestic hockey. WAPDA is currently national champion of Pakistan and their back-to-back triumphs, thanks to Sohail, recorded during 50th and 51st National Championship at Karachi 2003 and Peshawar 2004 respectively. Sohail also helped his previous domestic team HBL to reach the final of the National Championship in 2001.
Sohail managed 28 goals in 2003 and for the sixth time running, he finished as annual leading scorer for Pakistan. He struck five goals as Pakistan met success in Ipoh's 12th Azlan Shah Cup in March 2003 but later on Pakistan went to Australia without him, Nadeem Ahmed and Wasim Ahmed as the trio had defied the PHF by skipping the national training camp to play professional league in Germany. Sohail and Wasim represented German club Harvestehuder THC of Hamburg while Nadeem played for Gladbacher HTC. It was Sohail's third spell as pro hockey player after Dutch league 1999 and Malaysian League 2002 (he represented Bank Simpanan Nasional BSN along with Kashif Jawwad).
Nadeem did return in time for the trials for the Australia-bound squad, but he was not considered for selection and Pakistan suffered embarrassment, finishing last in both twin 4-Nation tournaments at Perth and Sydney.
Nadeem, later on, was reprimanded for his act while Sohail and Wasim were not allowed to appear in Pakistan-China series in July. They faced an inquiry committee on 14 July 2003 during which they regretted the mistake. Both were allowed to join the camp and seven days later were included in the team for the 25th CT. But their inclusion only came after hefty fines of Rs. 100,000 each on the players. PHF inquiry committee had also recommended a one-year ban on the duo. But PHF President Gen. Muhammad Aziz Khan brought an amicable end to the controversy when he said that the under-fire players will compete in the CT in better national interest.
Sohail won bronze in Amstelveen's CT, followed by silver in KL's 6th Asia Cup. The PHF sent under-strength team at the First Afro Asian Games hockey event at Hyderabad Deccan 2003 by resting Sohail saying he needed rest after the CT and Asia Cup.
Sohail also started 2004 in whirlwind fashion and won the top scorer award in 13th Azlan Shah Cup at Bukit Jalil Complex. He struck ten goals with the help of two hat tricks against India and Germany. He managed one double hat trick and 21 hat tricks in international hockey so far : a record unmatched in international field hockey. Sohail recorded 59 goals in 2004 and was well poised to break his own world record of most goals in calendar year (60 in 1999) before retirement.
Despite such tremendous show, Sohail failed to win gold in a major event. He represented Pakistan in Olympics 2000, 2004 and World Cup 1998 and 2002, but Pakistan failed to win any medal. He was silver medalist in CT of 1998 and bronze medalist in CT 2002, 2003 and 2004. He also appeared in CT of 1999 and 2001.
Sohail participated in the 2010 Hockey World Cup which turned out to be a major flop for Pakistan as they finished last in the tournament. Sohail subsequently missed the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
where Pakistan finished sixth after losing to India and South Africa. He was recalled to the Pakistan team for the 2010 Asian Games
2010 Asian Games
The 2010 Asian Games, also known as the XVI Asiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Guangzhou, China from November 12 to November 27, 2010. Guangzhou was the second Chinese city to host the Games, after Beijing in 1990...
as Pakistan plan to win that tournament National Goal-keeper Salman Akbar
Salman Akbar
Salman Akbar is a field hockey player from Pakistan. His playing position is goalkeeper. He is a veteran of over 300 games.-2010:...
was also recalled He started the tournament well when he scored 2 goals for Pakistan as the floored Japan 8-2 in the asian games
Sohail's First Major Gold Medal was In 2010 Asian Game Held at China.Abbas's finest moment for Pakistan continued to be the 2010 Asian Games
2010 Asian Games
The 2010 Asian Games, also known as the XVI Asiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Guangzhou, China from November 12 to November 27, 2010. Guangzhou was the second Chinese city to host the Games, after Beijing in 1990...
as the was part of the team which beat South Korea 4-3 on penalty strokes. Abbas however missed his penalty. Malaysia defeated India 4-3 and played Pakistan in the final. On 25 November 2010 the Malaysia v Pakistan final started during the 28th minute of the match Abbas scored a penalty corner to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead. Rehan Butt
Rehan Butt
Rehan Butt is a professional field hockey player from Pakistan, who was a member of the Men's National Team that won the bronze medal at the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Champions Trophey.-International senior tournaments:...
scored a goal 4 minutes after half time to extend the lead to 2-0. Malaysia failed to score and the whistle blew with Pakistan winning the 2010 Asian Games Hockey Tournament. This became Pakistan's first victory at the Asian Games since 1990 and their first victory in a major international tournament since the 1994 Champions Trophy. The 16 year drought ended and Pakistan and Sohail Abbas put a poor World Cup and Commonwealth Games behind them to give their country their first major trophy in 16 years.
Gold Medal
2010 Hockey at the 2010 Asian GamesHockey at the 2010 Asian Games
The Field hockey event at the 2010 Asian Games was held in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China from November 13, 2010 for Women and November 15, 2010 for Men. In this tournament, 10 teams played in the men's competition, and 7 teams participated in the women's competition...
1999 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
2000 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
2003 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
Silver Medal
1998 Hockey Champions Trophy2004 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
1999 Hockey Asia Cup
Hockey Asia Cup
The ASHF Asia Cup is an international men's and women's field hockey tournament governed by the Asian Hockey Federation . It was introduced in 1982 for men's competition and the women's competition was added a year later as non-official championship until the official tournament held in...
2003 Hockey Asia Cup
Hockey Asia Cup
The ASHF Asia Cup is an international men's and women's field hockey tournament governed by the Asian Hockey Federation . It was introduced in 1982 for men's competition and the women's competition was added a year later as non-official championship until the official tournament held in...
2009 Hockey Asia Cup
Hockey Asia Cup
The ASHF Asia Cup is an international men's and women's field hockey tournament governed by the Asian Hockey Federation . It was introduced in 1982 for men's competition and the women's competition was added a year later as non-official championship until the official tournament held in...
2011 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
Bronze Medal
2002 Hockey Champions Trophy2003 Hockey Champions Trophy
2004 Hockey Champions Trophy
1998 Asian Games
Asian Games
The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1978 Games. Since the 1982 Games they have been organised by the...
2002 Hockey at the Commonwealth Games
Hockey at the Commonwealth Games
Field hockey became a permanent sport in the Commonwealth Games with its introduction in 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur.-Summaries:-Medalists:-Summaries:-Medalists:...