Rome Olympics 1960: Pakistan's first Olympic gold medal that made hockey a national sport
Hashim Khan's historic achievement of winning the British Open title in 1951 and then the Oval Test of the Pakistani cricket team in 1954 showed that Pakistan was ready to make its mark on the international sports scene. But everyone was waiting for the big news from the hockey field.
Only a year after the formation of Pakistan, the Pakistani hockey team competed in the 1948 London Olympics, but lost to the Netherlands and had to settle for fourth place. Four years later, at the Helsinki Olympics, the story was similar when Britain defeated him to lose the bronze medal.
Then at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the Pakistani hockey team performed better than the previous two Olympics in terms of reaching the final. But in the final, India defeated him by one goal. Although Pakistan won a silver medal, the desire to be a world champion was present in the heart of every athlete.
This was the time when the Indian parrot was talking on the hockey fields. He had won gold medals in six consecutive Olympics.
And then the talisman of India was shattered.
When the 1960 Rome Olympics began, public opinion was still in favor of India. But no one was ready to ignore the Pakistani hockey team and at that time it was being said that if any team can challenge the Indian hockey team, it is Pakistan.
Prior to the Rome Olympics, the Pakistani hockey team won a gold medal at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games, gaining a psychological edge. That's why everyone was waiting for a tough competition between them at the Rome Olympics.
Both Pakistan and India confidently launched the Rome Olympics. Led by Abdul Hameed Hamidi, the Pakistani team defeated Australia, Japan and Poland by a clear margin in their group matches.
In the quarter-finals, Pakistan faced Germany in which Pakistan won 2-1 thanks to goals from Abdul Waheed Khan and Naseer Banda. In the semi-final, Pakistan defeated Spain thanks to a decisive goal by MH Atif.
On September 9, 1960, between the Pakistani team and its first Olympic gold medal, the Indian team stood as it did four years ago.
But not in Rome what happened in Melbourne.
This time a new date was set. Naseer Banda's goal in the 11th minute made Pakistan the first world champion on the hockey horizon.
It was also the end of India's 32-year dominance in the Olympics.
Players of the hockey team that won the Rome Olympics
Pakistani team that won the gold medal in Rome Olympics Abdul Rashid (goalkeeper), MH Atif, Bashir Ahmed (full backs), Anwar Ahmed Khan, Ghulam Rasool Chaudhry, Habib Ali Kadi (half backs), Noor Alam, Abdul Hameed Hamidi, Abdul Waheed Khan , Matiullah and Naseer Banda (Forwards).
At that time, each squad consisted of 18 players, but the medals matched the 11 players who were on the field.
The players who did not play in the final included Rory Gardner, Munir Dar, Khurshid Aslam, Zafar Hayat, Zakauddin, Zafar Ali Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed.
Pakistani heroes of the Rome Olympics
At the Rome Olympics, all Pakistani athletes performed exceptionally well. But the magic of captain Abdul Hameed Hamidi, Naseer Banda and Abdul Waheed Khan was unleashed.
This was Hamidi's fourth Olympic tournament and he scored nine goals while playing in his right position.
Abdul Waheed Khan was second at the center forward position with six goals.
Naseer Banda Left was a perfect player in his position who scored five goals in the entire tournament but his memorable goal in the final made him a national hero.
Matiullah and Noor Alam performed their duties beautifully as wingers while the role of the half line was no less that of Anwar Ahmed Khan, Habib Ali Kadi, and Ghulam Rasool Chaudhry.
The excellent performance of the Pakistani team in the Rome Olympics can be gauged from the fact that they scored 25 goals in six matches and only one goal against them which was scored by Germany in the quarter finals.
Why Bunda with Naseer Ahmed's name?
Naseer Bunda's son, former international hockey player Nasir Naseer, speaking to BBC Urdu, says:
This bond became a part of his name for the rest of his life.
Nasir Naseer also said this interesting thing. My father did not usually wear shoes while playing. They found it easy to play barefoot
Abdul Waheed Khan says that Naseer Banda had to play in the Rome Olympics wearing shoes because the ground was overgrown with grass and there was water on it.
It was normal for Naseer Banda to score a goal. He played 44 international matches and scored 43 goals.
He was a silver medalist at the Melbourne Olympics and a gold medalist at the Asian Games in Tokyo and Jakarta.
Naseer Banda was also known as 'Mickey Mouse' in his career due to his skill in defeating defensive players at lightning speed.
Shiny play by Abdul Waheed of Sanoli color
Only two players of the winning Pakistani team, Abdul Waheed Khan and Matiullah, who played in the final of the Rome Olympics, are currently alive.
Matiullah, 83, has a hearing impairment, so he has difficulty speaking.
He represented Pakistan in three Olympics, winning one gold and two silver medals. He was also part of the team that won gold medals in two Asian Games.
Matiullah's two nephews, Samiullah and Kaleemullah, have represented Pakistan at the Olympics.
Abdul Waheed Khan, 84, has a great treasure trove of memories of that era.
"I remember when the national hockey camp started, I was not included, saying I was finished," he told BBC Urdu.
"I went to Mumbai to play with the customs team. As I was returning from the ship, I was informed that I had been called to the camp.
It was a four-month camp set up in the scorching heat of Lahore. Colonel Ali Iqtdar Shah Dara was the camp commandant who used a psychological tactic to motivate the players.
"They put up posters in the athletes' rooms and dining halls with the words' Victory at Room 'so that they would always have the feeling that they have to win the Rome Olympics," he says.
Abdul Waheed Khan says that the rigorous training had made the players fit mentally and physically. I figured this might be my last national selection. So I was paying a lot of attention to my training
Abdul Waheed Khan scored a record 17 goals in the 1962 Asian Games after the Rome Olympics. It also included a double hat-trick.
Naseer Banda's historic goal
Abdul Waheed Khan talks about Naseer Banda's decisive goal in the final. Usually I used to connect the cross of left out and right out as center forward.
"The only thing on the minds of the Indian players in the final was that I would connect whatever cross came. But Hamidi's hit was stopped by Noor Alam and crossed.
"If the Indian players think so, I will stop this cross," he said. That is why defender Naseer left Banda and came to me. But I dropped the ball and Naseer Banda was standing empty and he took the opportunity to throw the ball into the goal.
Hamidi's weighted hockey stick
Forward sticks usually weighed 18 ounces. But Hamidi used to play with a 26 ounce hockey stick. He did not push the ball but hit hard.
Abdul Hameed Hamidi is the first hockey Olympian in Pakistan to be awarded a medal after the Rome Olympics. He was followed by two other players of the team, Naseer Banda in 1962 and Manzoor Hussain Atif in 1963 with the Presidential Medal for Excellence. Matiullah was awarded the Medal of Distinction in 1963.
Abdul Waheed Khan, Anwar Ahmad Khan and Munir Dar were awarded the Medal of Distinction by the Government of Pakistan in 2015.
How did hockey become the national sport of Pakistan?
When the Pakistani team returned home after winning the Rome Olympics, President General Ayub Khan invited the winning team to Karachi. In the same meeting, he formally announced the status of hockey as a national sport.
Abdul Waheed Khan says the team was taken to different cities where it received a warm welcome. There were so many people at the Lahore railway station when the team arrived that I fell into the crowd.
"When the team was going to Data Darbar, the road was full of people, including women and children. The situation was similar in other cities.
Abdul Waheed Khan explains that when the Pakistani flag was hoisted at the Rome Olympics, there were many people who did not know about Pakistan. But then we also saw that whenever the name of Pakistan was mentioned, people used to say that of course you are a hockey player. This means that hockey and Pakistan had become inseparable.
"Like a mountain falling on us."
Winning the final of the Rome Olympics was not a happy occasion for Pakistani athletes. For the Indian team, on the other hand, the defeat was nothing short of a tragedy.
"The memories of the final are bad for us because we lost," Olympian Klont Arora, who is part of the team, told BBC Urdu. At that moment, it was as if a mountain had fallen on us. Even today, we feel very bad remembering this match
Klont Arora, 86, says: "For us, it was nothing short of a shock how Pakistan scored the first goal against us. We were not used to it.
"Our team had fewer goalscorers. Therefore, we could not end Pakistan's one-goal lead. Some of the players who should have been in the team could not be selected in this team due to politics.
Jaswant Singh, the center forward of the Indian hockey team that played in the final of the Rome Olympics, is now alive and he is 90 years old.
When I called him on the phone, he couldn't talk much and said he only remembered that he was a center forward at the Rome Olympics, but nothing more.
It was Jaswant Singh who got the chance to score in the opening moments of the match. But they could not take advantage of it.
Abdul Waheed Khan says, "Jaswant Singh was a six-and-a-half-foot tall player and when I met him on the field, I felt like we were on the street because I was short and thin."
Charanjit Singh has also reached the age of 90. He could not play in the final due to unfitness, but emphasizing his memory, he briefly told BBC Urdu that at that time, the teams of Pakistan and India had the same standard.
"It was in Melbourne that we realized that the next match against Pakistan would not be easy. But our team was not in a position to win a gold medal.