Haider Hussain

Haider Hussain

Haider is a born athlete with a passion for basketball and athletics. He started off as an athlete and a basketball player while he was at Habib Public School, Karachi. When he was a 400m and 800/1,500m runner and a basketball player of his school team, he was spotted by his school hockey team coach late Abdul Waheed.

 

It was Waheed who brought Karachi-born Haider into school’s hockey team and from there his hockey career started. While athletics and basketball were his passion, hockey became his actual first love. Gulberg Hockey Club may be an ordinary Karachi club for many, but for Haider it has a special place. It was this club where Haider would go and practice daily after returning from school.

 

He then became the captain of his school team, D.J. College, Jinnah College, secondary school board, intermediate board, Sindh under-16, Pakistan Customs seniors and juniors, Customs Lahore, and Habib Bank. He later earned the distinction of serving bank’s team as coach and manager besides representing Karachi University and Karachi under-21 team.

 

He made a breakthrough when he represented Pakistan junior team in 1996 which clinched the Junior Asia Cup in Singapore. After representing Pakistan juniors at a European tour the same year, featuring at Volvo Cup in Amstelveen, and playing a series against Poland in Warsaw, he also represented Pakistan at Junior World Cup in Milton Keynes, England, in 1997.

 

Years of hard work finally paid off in 1998 when his talent was spotted and recognised. He was asked to don the green shirt for the senior team to play a series against India in Karachi. He was a member of the Pakistan team which finished as runner-up in 1998 at the prestigious Champions Trophy in Lahore.

 

He also played at Azlan Shah Cup, Olympic qualifying round in Osaka in 2000, while his career ended on a winning note when Pakistan grabbed the President’s Gold Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2001.

 

Haider played for Hanif Khan Hockey Club and Gulberg Hockey Club in his early days. He also represented Uden Hockey Club in the domestic league in the Netherlands and Sacramento Hockey Club in the United States after his international hockey career.