Waseem Ahmad
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Waseem Ahmad | ||
| Born | 10 April 1977 | ||
| Playing position | Left Half, Center Half | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Waseem Hockey Club, WAPDA | ||
| Senior career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–2002 | Habib Bank Limited | 400+ | (40) |
| 2002-present | WAPDA | ||
| 2004-2010 | HC Rotterdam, Netherlands | ||
| 2005 season | Hyderabad Sultans, Premier Hockey League | ||
| 2011-12 season | Bhopal Badshahs, World Series Hockey | ||
| 2013-14 season | KL Hockey Club, Malaysia Hockey League | ||
| 2013-14 season | Punjab Sports Club, Hong Kong Premier Hockey League | ||
| National team | |||
| 1996–present | Pakistan | 410 | (37) |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Field Hockey | ||
Competitor for  Pakistan
| ||
| Asian Hockey Champions Trophy | ||
| Gold | 2012 Doha | Team |
| Asian Games | ||
| Gold | 2010 Guangzhou | Team |
| Bronze | 1998 Bangkok | Team |
| Commonwealth Games | ||
| Bronze | 2002 Manchester | Team |
| Hockey Champions Challenge | ||
| Silver | 2009 Salta | Team |
| Sultan Azlan Shah Cup | ||
| Gold | 1998 Ipoh | Team |
| Gold | 2000 Ipoh | Team |
| Gold | 2003 Ipoh | Team |
| Silver | 2004 Ipoh | Team |
| Silver | 2011 Ipoh | Team |
| Champions Trophy | ||
| Silver | 1996 Chennai | Team |
| Silver | 1998 Lahore | Team |
| Bronze | 2002 Cologne | Team |
| Bronze | 2003 Amstelveen | Team |
| Bronze | 2004 Lahore | Team |
| Bronze | 2012 Melbourne | Team |
| Hockey Asia Cup | ||
| Silver | 1999 Kuala Lumpur | Team |
| Silver | 2003 Kuala Lumpur | Team |
| Silver | 2009 Kuantan | Team |
| Bronze | 2013 Ipoh | Team |
Waseem Ahmad (Urdu: وسیم احمد) (born 10 April 1977, Vehari) is a Pakistan field hockey player and ex- captain of Pakistan hockey team. He is regarded as one of the best left halfs in the world, and became the most capped midfielder and most capped player for Pakistan. After announcing his retirement from International hockey during Press Conference held after Pakistan-India third-place match of 26th Champions Trophy in Lahore, former Pakistan captain Waseem Ahmed later staged a comeback to international hockey in 2006 for World Cup and retired immediately after Pakistan team campaign in London Olympics 2012.
Career
Pakistan's most-capped player and midfielder became the 34th National hockey Captain of Pakistan when Pakistan clashed with India in the opener of 9th Indo-Pak Series (Friday 24 September) at Karachi's HCP. He was the 17th captain to lead Pakistan in Champions Trophy. Apart from Shahbaz Ahmed, who captained Pakistan 6 times (1990–95) in Champion Trophys, only three players have captained Pakistan on two occasions. They are Hanif Khan (1983, 1985), Mansoor Ahmed (1996, 97) and Muhammad Sarwar (2001–02). Islahuddin, Munawwaruz Zaman, Akhtar Rasool, Samiullah Khan, Manzoor Hussain Jr., Hassan Sardar, Rashidul Hassan, Nasir Ali, Qazi Mohib, Muhammad Usman, Atif Bashir and Muhammad Nadeem ND captained once only.
The left-half is first in the list of most-capped Pakistanis. Shahbaz Ahmed Sr. (303 caps) is the second one. Third-placed Tahir Zaman earned 252 caps in a career spanning from 1987 to 1998. Other Pakistanis with 200+ caps in international hockey circuit are Mansoor Ahmed, Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Nadeem and Sohail Abbas.
Waseem Ahmed was the seventh midfielder to lead Pakistan. Hamidullah Burki was the first one when he led Pakistan in 1950 World Championship at Barcelona. Burki was followed by midfielders Ghulam Rasool, Anwar Ahmed Khan, Akhtar Rasool, Rashidul Hassan and Muhammad Usman.
He replaced former skipper Mohammad Nadeem alias ND, who quit international hockey after Pakistan finished 5th at the 28th Olympic Games.
Playing position (midfield, defence)
The position of left-half is generally regarded as a defensive one in Asian style hockey but, like Fazalur Rahman (1965–72) and Naeem Akhtar (1982–88), Waseem proved this perception wrong. He is not only a dynamo in defence but also in attack. He displays an extremely high work-rate. Waseem, also known as Muhammad Waseem in media, struck 6 goals in 303 international outings. He is an ex-student of Government College Lahore now known as GC University (Ravian) which in itself is a rare distinction for a hockey player.
Skills
Born in Vehari,located near Multan, a district of Punjab Province, on 10 April 1977, Waseem made his international debut during 16th Champions Trophy 1996 at Chennai (formerly Madras), India. He possesses excellent tackling and positioning sense in defense. Similarly, he has great ball-control to move up-front, creating gaps in the opponents' defense and supplying passes to the strikers.
Achievements
Waseem played his 200th international hockey match on 24 September 2003 when Pakistan inflicted a 4-2 win over India in the Group-B encounter of 6th Asia Cup Hockey Championship at National Hockey Stadium of Bukit Jalil Sports Complex at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Waseem also struck a precious goal in that match when he converted Pakistan's first penalty corner by beating Indian keeper Devesh Chauhan. He scored that crucial goal when the match was evenly poised at 2-2.
Being captain of Pakistan Hockey team for the 1st time, team won the 9th Indo-Pak Test Hockey Series and returned to Pakistan with a victory under his captaincy.
Waseem won silver medals in Champions Trophy at Chennai 1996 and Lahore 1998 besides bronze medals in 2002,2003 and 2004 editions. He also appeared in CTs of 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2010. Waseem also represented Pakistan in Olympics of 2000 and 2004, World Cup in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 along with Junior World Cup 1997. He has also won silver medal in 5th and 6th Asia Cup at Kuala Lumpur 1999 and 2003 respectively, and bronze medal in 13th Asian Games at Bangkok 1998. Pakistani team won Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 3 times and Waseem Ahmad was in the side every time. He is the only player who is never dropped from the National side due to his performance.
Along with Sohail Abbas, he was the only Pakistani to be included in the World XI which played against the Netherlands in Alexandria on 27 October 1999, as part of FIH's 75th Anniversary Celebrations. Waseem used to play for current national champions of Pakistan, WAPDA and he was the vice-captain of Pakistani team that won the third Junior Asia Cup at Singapore 1996. He also won the gold medal in FIH World Youth U18 Festival at Rawalpindi/Wah 1995-96.
He captained Pakistani team in two events before he announced his retirement. First was India-Pak Hockey Test Series 2004 which Pakistan won easily. Second was Champions Trophy in December at Lahore in which Pakistani team got bronze medal under his captaincy.
He is the 2nd Pakistani Player to play the 4th consecutive World Cup in 2010. But the consistency in the team made him the most-capped player of the nation in history.
Premier Hockey League
Waseem only played the inaugural season of the Premier Hockey League in India for Hyderabad Sultans in 2005 where he performed at his best and played a key role in making his side Champions. After that he went to Netherlands to play Dutch league for HC Rotterdam.
Retirement
He became Pakistan's second most-capped player when he earned his 253rd cap on 4 December 2004 in a match against Germany and he became Pakistan's most-capped (304) 12 December 2004 in his last match before retirement against India which was for Bronze medal and Pakistan won it. He was declared man of the match in this match. He also became the most-capped midfielder of Pakistan's hockey history by edging out Muhammad Usman's record of 210 caps. Former national skipper Usman played as a right-half from 1994 to 2002. He came back in the side for playing Champion's Trophy and World Cup in 2006 for Pakistan Hockey Team after taking his retirement back. Now he is currently playing the center-half of the Pakistan National team. He announced his retirement on 9 August 2012 after the 7th position match against Korea in London Olympics, 2012.
Comeback
Ahmad made his comeback in 2009 to play for Pakistan as Pakistan Hockey Federation called him back for his consistent performance in the Dutch League and National Championship. He was part of the gold medal winning team at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. After this, he played London Olympics and Hockey Champions Trophy in 2012 where he got Bronze Medal in Melbourne, Australia. Then, he was part of the team which won the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy in Doha, Qatar in December, 2012. Waseem is also the part of the team which will participate in Hockey Asia Cup in August, 2013 in Ipoh, Malaysia. Now currently he is with the National side until 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup to be played in The Hague, Netherlands.
World Series Hockey
World Series Hockey is a competition by Nimbus Sports for the game of Hockey in India. Ahmad was signed by them as the highest paid player for the inaugural season which is going to be held from 29 February 2012. Waseem represented Bhopal Badshahs for the first time which is the home team of Madhya Pradesh state in India. The team consists of young players therefore he played a vital role in all their wins. His performance was incredible in the whole season.
Tamgha e Imtiaz
Waseem has been nominated by District Government, Vehari for President's Pride of performance award in 2013 on 400 International matches as he is the first Pakistani player to achieve this landmark. This was approved by Punjab as well as Federal Government. Notification from Aiwan-e-Sadr has been issued for the awards on 14 August 2013. Waseem is given this award on his remarkable performance in the field of National Game, Hockey. He is the only person to get this award in Sports category for the year 2013. He will be getting Tamgha-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2014 from the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Malaysia Hockey League
He played Malaysia Hockey League for KL Hockey Club along with 4 other Pakistani players and one Australian and they were the Champions of the League and the Cup with unbeaten streak of matches.
Hong Kong Premier League
As always, Waseem Ahmad has been invited to play Hong Kong Premier Hockey League 2013 for Punjab Sports Club together with Sohail Abbas, Mudassar Ali Khan and Gabbar.
See also
External links
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