Sohail Abbas
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
9 June 1975 Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
||
| Playing position | Left Full Back | ||
| Senior career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps (Gls) | |
2005 2005-2010 |
Habib Bank WAPDA Bank Simpanan Nasional Hyderabad Sultans HC Rotterdam KL Hockey Club |
78 (-) - (-) 7 (8) -(-) |
|
| National team | |||
| 1998-present | Pakistan | 350 (348) | |
| Last updated on: 9 August 2012 | |||
Sohail Abbas, (born 9 June 1975 in Karachi) is a Pakistani field hockey defender, penalty corner specialist and former captain of the Pakistan Hockey Team. He is the highest goal scorer in the history of field hockey, with his current goal tally at 348.
Born at Karachi's Holy Family Hospital, Soldier Bazaar on 9 June 1975, Sohail is a former pupil of Karachi's Habib Public School, the school of many other hockey stars. In fact, it has been rightly remarked that hockey is taught as a subject in this school.
He came from a sporting family; his father, Syed Iftikhar Hussain, was a former first-class cricketer. He represented Karachi as well as Pak Crescent Club, famous for producing Zaheer Abbas. Sohail is eldest of three brothers. Raheel Abbas, his younger one, is an IT professional and a Professional / First Class Cricketer. Sohail has often said that his inspiration came from his uncle, Safdar Abbas, a left-winger who scored against Argentina during the 1974 World Cup as 16-year-old boy. Sohail is keen to emphasize the part played by Safdar, who, Sohail says, inspired him as a youngster.
As a young hockey player, his potential was not realized for some time. He had difficulty making an impact on the professional hockey leagues between 1995-98. Like many Pakistani hockey players, he is a product of the Pakistan Junior Squad. An impressive performance in the 18th Junior National Hockey U18 Championship at Quetta 1995 gained him a place in Pakistan Junior squad which drew their home series 2-2 against Germany Juniors. He was not selected for the tour of Netherlands, Germany and Poland, playing next for Pakistan in the third Junior Asia Cup at Singapore in 1996. He staged a return to the Pakistan Junior side in 1997, a side which beat Germany Junior in four consecutive test matches.
...
Wikipedia