Olympic medal winner Qazi Musarrat is no more

LAHORE: Qazi Musarrat Hussain, a member of the Pakistan hockey team which won the country's first ever Olympic medal (silver) at the 1956 Olympics, breathed his last here on Thursday. He was 86.

Equally adept at right half and left half, Musarrat presented a distinct figure on the field — he was left-handed so held the stick with a unique grip.

He was born in an area which is now part of India. His family moved to Lahore after the Independence.

Musarrat studied at Government College, Lahore, which always had a strong hockey team studded with internationals and potential internationals. He also represented the Punjab University.

Later he joined Customs which had one of the strongest teams in the domestic circuit. He then moved to Karachi where he lived till the end.

Apart from the 1956 Olympics, Musarrat also played for Pakistan at the 1958 Asian Games where Pakistan won the gold medal, relegating India to second position for the first time in a title tournament.

At the national camp for the 1960 Olympics, he sustained a knee injury which ended his career. He never recovered from that and his domestic hockey career also ended.

Later, he concentrated on his job in Customs and reached the rank of Assistant Collector.

Qazi Musarrat was one of the two survivors from the 1956 Olympics team. Now, only left winger Mutiullah is among us.