Muhammad Asad Malik

During the 1960s and 1970s Muhammad Asad Malik was part of Pakistan’s successful field hockey team that often played against their great rivals India. A mainstay in the national team, Malik’s first major win came when Pakistan won the hockey tournament at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta with a 2–0 win against India. Pakistan went on to win silver at the 1966 Asian Games, before coming back to win gold four years later.

Overlapping with the Asian Games Malik also competed at three editions of the Olympics where he won gold and two silvers. The 1964 Tokyo Games saw India beat Pakistan 1–0 in the final after India scored a penalty late into the match. Four years later in Mexico City a potential upset was in the cards after India failed to make it to the Olympic final for the first time in 40 years when Australia beat them in the semi-finals. In the final, Pakistan scored first before Australia equalised in the second half. In the 56th minute Malik scored the winning goal for Pakistan to lead the team to gold. An image of him scoring the winner was later used on postage stamps in his home country.

At the 1972 München Olympics Pakistan beat India 2–0 in the semi-finals to advance to the finals to face the hosts West Germany. The match was a bad-tempered affair after Pakistan had a goal disallowed. West Germany took the lead in the 60th minute from a penalty corner, resulting in the Pakistani players and supporters misbehaving. The match was stopped twice before the final whistle was eventually blown, with the home team winning gold and Pakistan taking home silver.

Malik also won gold at the inaugural edition of the Hockey World Cup in 1971, with Pakistan beating hosts Spain 1–0 in the final. He played in the next tournament in 1973 in the Netherlands where Pakistan once again faced the arch-rivals India. This time India beat them in the semi-finals, with Pakistan then losing the third-place play-off to West Germany, echoing the result from the München Games.

Several members of Malik’s family have also played hockey for Pakistan at the Olympics. His brother Saeed Anwar played alongside him at the 1964, 1968, and 1972 Games, while his nephews Naeem Amjad and Anjum Saeed played at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Games, respectively. Malik was 78-years-old when he was killed in a road accident near to Sharaqpur Sharif in Pakistan in July 2020.