Shahnaz Sheikh
Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh is a retired Pakistani field hockey player. He was born at Sialkot, Pakistan. A good player and very popular in world hockey history. Olympian Zahid Sheikh(Late) and Olympian Tariq Sheikh both his family member. In 2014, he was the head coach of Pakistan National Hockey Team.[2]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 March 1949[1] Sialkot, Pakistan |
| Years active | 1969 - 2015 |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Field Hockey | ||
Representing the  | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 1972 Munich | Team |
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 1976 Montreal | Team |
| Hockey World Cup | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 1971 Barcelona | Team |
| 1975 Kuala Lumpur | Team |
| 1978 Buenos Aires | Team |
| Asian Games | ||
| 1970 Bangkok | Team |
| 1974 Tehran | Team |
| 1978 Bangkok | Team |
| Asia Cup | ||
| Champions Trophy | ||
| 1978 Lahore | Team |
A forward, Shahnaz Sheikh played between 1969 and 1978. He was capped 68 times and scored 45 goals for the Pakistan National Hockey Team. He won Silver in 1972 and Bronze in 1976 Olympics . Shahnaz won the 1971 Field Hockey World Cup and was runner-up in 1975 and won again in 1978. Shahnaz was one of the most skilled hockey players that Pakistan had produced. At the same time, Shahnaz was also an explosive player who stood tall among his contemporaries and would have easily walked into any field hockey side in the world.[3]
Having been given a feminine name, that was the only soft thing about him as he was a marauder on the left wing, and played an 'inner' to Samiullah Khan during the later part of his career. He ran shivers down the spines of opposition defences with his tremendous ball control and situational awareness. To opposing teams, he was a nemesis, virtually unstoppable on his day and more than a handful on several other occasions.
In the early 1970s, he was the most acrobatic Pakistani forward and by the mid 1970s, he had become such a force that his absence from the field through injury was a major cause of the 'Green Shirts' narrowly losing two high-profile matches: the 1975 Hockey World Cup final against India at Kuala Lumpur and the 1976 Montreal Olympics against Australia in the Semis. On both occasions, Pakistan went down 2–1 in controversial circumstances.
Shahnaz also had a 'good hockey head' over his shoulders. One lasting impression of him was his rather brief stint as coach of the Pakistan Junior Team, in which Pakistan won the Junior Asia Cup.
In 2015, Shahnaz Sheikh served as national team coach but stepped down from his post after disappointing performance by Pakistan Hockey Team.[4]
Awards and recognition
- Shahnaz Sheikh is rated among the 'Top 10 Pakistan Hockey Players of All Time'.[3]
- He received the Pride of Performance Award in 1990 from the President of Pakistan.
See also
References
- , Profile of Shahnaz Sheikh on sports-reference.com website, Retrieved 12 April 2017
- , Shahnaz Sheikh as head coach of Pakistan Hockey Team in 2014 on The Telegraph [UK] newspaper, Published 12 December 2014, Retrieved 12 April 2017
- , Profile of Shahnaz Sheikh and his rating among the 'Top 10 Pakistan Hockey Players of All Time' on Asian Women Magazine website, Retrieved 12 April 2017
- http://zeenews.india.com/sports/hockey/khalid-sajjad-khokar-replaces-shahnaz-sheikh-as-phf-president_1655740.html, Shahnaz Sheikh on Zee News website, Published 27 August 2015, Retrieved 12 April 2017