Gulraiz Akhtar (2 February 1943 – 1 November 2021) was a Pakistani

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player. He was born in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, Pakistan to Muhammad Amin and Amina. Although his father was a lawyer by profession, Akhtar had a humble upbringing. He was fourth among seven siblings, three brothers and four sisters. Inspired by their uncle Muhammad Naseeb (1950), who was also an International Field Hockey player for Pakistan and

Naseer Bunda Ahmed Naseer Bunda (15 May 1932 – 20 March 1993) was a field hockey player from Pakistan. He was born in Rawalpindi. He was a silver medalist from 1956 Summer Olympics and a gold medalist from 1960 Summer Olympics. Naseer scored the solitary wi ...

, a neighbor and family friend who was also an Olympic Gold Medalist, all three brothers, Javed, Pervez and Gulraiz started playing field hockey regularly at a local playground in Rawalpindi. One of his elder brothers, Pervez Akhtar, also became an international player for Pakistan. However, Gulraiz Akhtar shone the most, becoming Pakistan's first Left-Half to score a goal. His career concluded with three gold medals in International Tournaments. He won his first gold medal at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Gulraiz Akhtar served in Customs before attaining retirement age. He remained active in Hockey Events and sometimes wrote in renowned magazines and newspapers. He died on 31 October 2021, in Lahore, aged 78. He was laid to rest in Lahore.

References

External links

* 1943 births 2021 deaths Field hockey players from Rawalpindi Pakistani male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players of Pakistan Olympic gold medalists for Pakistan Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in field hockey Field hockey players at the 1970 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games {{Pakistan-fieldhockey-bio-stub