Bangladesh

FIH COACHING STRATEGY PAYING DIVIDENDS

By : Syed Akber Ali Wahidi

FIH Grade-I Coach Qamar Ibrahim of Pakistan stole the limelight when the U-21 Challenge Cup Invitational Hockey Tournament at Dhaka ended in victory for Bangladesh against all odds. The South Asian nation celebrated winning its first-ever international tournament after the Under-21 team pulled off a thrilling 4-2 victory in the tie-breaker against India in the rescheduled final at the Maulana Bhasani Stadium on Friday, 8 October 2004. It was shifted from Thursday to Friday after heavy rains waterlogged the turf. Oman finished third by beating Myanmar 3-1 in the place-deciding match.
Since joining FIH in 1973, the best ranking for Bangladesh was their U-16 side finishing runners-up in Singapore in 2003 and on home soil earlier this year.
Hero of the final was keeper Zahid Hossain who held his nerve in the lottery after both sides finished goalless in 90 minutes of absorbing hockey. The inspired performance by Zahid helped to avenge the hosts' 3-1 loss in their final preliminary game on 6 October. Mostafizur Rahman Dinar, Mamunur Rahman, Russel Mahmud and Jimmy converted from the spot after captain Zahidul Islam Rajan was thwarted by Indian custodian Suraj Kanta.
Bangladeshi coach Qamar Ibrahim was delighted on his first success. "Yes, I'm happy with the success but we still need to do a lot of work to improve the game's standard. I think more organizing better tournaments and tours abroad will help Bangladesh raise its profile in the region," said Qamar, who took charge a month ago.
1990 World Cup silver medallist Qamar Ibrahim added: “FIH strategy of producing coaches is paying dividends and Pakistani coaches are well-equipped to utilize their ability for progress of hockey with both hands.” said Qamar, who was an advisory coach for the Bangladesh hockey team during 5th Junior Asia Cup (JAC) 2004 at Karachi last April.

Strongly-built Qamar, who used to play as right-winger, put up impressive show in the High Performance Course at Perth, Australia in 2002 and FIH Final Seminar at Amstelveen, Netherlands in 2003 to enlist his name in global body. Born at Faisalabad on 14 January 1968, Qamar expressed his satisfaction over his Bangladesh’s charge. He was Video Analyst of Pakistan team that won the bronze-medal in the 25th Champions Trophy at Amstelveen 2003. As a player, he was gold medallist in the1989 New Delhi Asia Cup and 1990 Asian Games at Beijing. He also won the gold in First JAC at Karachi 1988.

Dutch-Bangla Bank sponsors Qamar and a Pakistani trainer Irshad Haider for two years. Dutch-Bangla Bank is the official sponsor of the national hockey team and all age-group teams who will represent Bangladesh in different competitions.

Apart from the national team, Qamar will also conduct training for different age-group teams while the trainer will look after the physical fitness of the players.
"I used a different strategy this time against the Indians and the boys responded brilliantly. Friday’s victory was the result of teamwork and goalkeeper Zahid who stood out," Qamar added who made international debut for Pakistan during 4-Nation Lada Classic Tournament at Luton Town Football stadium at England in 1987, and played until 1993. He was also part of P.I.A hockey team that dominated National Hockey Championship in nineties. He captained the PIA team that won the 46th National Hockey Championship 1997 at HCP, Karachi by beating Pakistan Police 5-2 in the final.

Qamar struck 34 goals during 100 international matches he played for Pakistan. He also got bronze in1992 Barcelona Olympics and also appeared in 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. He played five Champions trophy from 1988 to 1992, winning silvers in 1988 and 1991, and bronze in 1992 editions. He was also bronze-medallist in 1989 Ipoh Junior World Cup.
The triumph painted a smile of relief on Qamar's face, as the tournament was the first assignment after taking over as Bangladesh's national hockey coach in September 2004. His next assignment will be to prepare the national team for the Singapore’s 4-Nation Meet in December.

Perhaps the most relived persons after Bangladesh’s triumph were Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) President and Chief of Air Staff Air Vice Marshal Fakhrul Azam and General Secretary Shamsul Bari. "Qamar did his work and trainer Iftikhar Haider’s also played his part. I think beating India at any level always a good achievement," said the long-serving BHF Secretary gloating on the glory.
India's coach Mukesh Kumar, a former Indian international and a popular figure in this country because of his association with Abahani in 1997, also praised the Bangladeshi lads.
The 9-day event was organized in an effort to give the game a facelift in the country. This is the first international hockey meet in three years after the BHF hosted the Prime Minister Gold Cup in 2001. U21 event was organized at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium and Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Pratishthan. A total of five nations took part in the tournament, designed with all five teams playing in the league format from where top two teams playing in the final.

Although Bangladesh have recently appointed Qamar, the former winger need to climb a mountain to deliver success, especially after the youth team's disastrous performance in the 5th JAC 2004. Bangladesh, who finished second from bottom, were thrashed 10-0 by India in a league match.
Bangladesh opened the mission with 3-0 win over Myanmar on 30 September. After a day’s rest, they outplayed Afghanistan. The 30-0 thrashing was by far the biggest win-margin in international competitions for Bangladesh. The previous best was the 12-1 victory over Nepal in the 1995 SAF Games in Chennai. Russel Mahmud Jimmy net eight times. Moksud Alam Habul notched five goals while Rahul and Mobarak managed three each. Dinar and Chayan got a brace each while seven others shared the remaining goals. The hosts beat Oman 2-0 on 4 October with goals from Jimmy and Mazharul Islam Moksed.

Bangladesh got a taste of what to expect in the virtual dress rehearsal for the final when they suffered a 1-3 defeat against India in their last league match on 6 October. Bangladesh struck through Mamunur Rahman while Mayur Subbaiah, Bhagwant Singh and Vikas Toppo scored for India.
Despite that defeat, Qamar was pleased with the performance and said he would adopt a different strategy in the final. He turned the tide in the final and indicated on changing their strategy after conceding a defeat to the same opponents 48 hours earlier. "The success was a reflection of our new strategy, but I was also impressed by the way the boys played against their superior opponents in league. They missed a lot of good chances otherwise the result could have been different there also." said Qamar who is young and ambitious and equipped with modern know-how of coaching, courtesy FIH .

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