User:HockeycrazY/Sanaullah (Sani)

Sanaullah
Sanaullah Ahmed also known by his nick name Sáni is a former field hockey player who played for Pakistan from late 1970s to mid 1980s as an attacking forward.Sanaullah was most known for his aggressive style of play.He had great speed with long steps and was able to switch the direction of his movement in a blink of a second.Sanaullah was however most known for the power of his hit,defenders all over the world feared him as he lashed out bullets from his hockey stick.His accuracy of crosses to the centre forwards resulted in many of his successful assists to score goals.Sanaullah started the walk to success when he scored the first goal in the first match of the first junior world cup in 1979 in France, which to date is the only junior world cup Pakistan has ever won.

Sanaullah however was also criticised for hurting the defenders ,at times even busting their heads open during the aggressive and technical style of play. It was also due to the power that he enforced in his strikes on the ball which resulted in defenders not able to avoid the accidents, he used GRAYS and DITA hockey sticks of greatest weight to maximize the power of the strike.Due to his extraordinary speed , stamina and power he was tested for doping several times but never was found using illegal substances .He never got the chance to captain the Pakistani team however domestically captained several times for the Multan district.

Sanaullah played for Pakistan as a Left out ( Left Winger ) and usually went on to score the goals himself, It has been reported by former Pakistani players that he was the fastest and most powerful striker of the ball who always targeted a goal keepers helmet which resulted in him always finding the net.Fellow ex-players have also reported that at times the goal keepers feared his hits which might have resulted in injuries for them.

Sanaullah started playing Hockey at the age of fourteen in Khanpur a small city in Province of Punjab.His first department was the United Bank Limited - U.B.L. to which he remains loyal to till date. He currently offers his services as an A.V.P and head of the money market department at U.B.L. in Karachi.Before playing professional Hockey he played Soccer at school and had captained his team several times, he also took parts in athletics for which he was awarded Sportsman of the year at the annual sports day during his college life.

Sanaullah got married in 1991 and is a father to his five sons.All his sons show great enthusiasm for sports. His eldest son M.Umer Farooq Sanaullah left Cricket to play hockey at professional level.He too shows great deal of Speed, stamina , power and sportsmanship but due to his GCE "O" & GCE "A" level Examinations his sports life gets disturbed ,he currently trains under former Olympians and His father's colleagues Saleem Sherwani , Jan Muhammad , Muhammad Ali and other notable figures in Pakistan Hockey. Sanaullah's other 4 sons M.Usama Sanaullah, M.Hamza Sanaullah,M.Usman Ghani and M.Muzzammil Sanaullah also take parts in various sports events Usama who plays Cricket is now busy in HIFZ-E-Quran while M.Hamza takes parts in Athletics at the National Coaching Centre in Karachi , he also qualified for the Sindh Games 2010 being the Youngest and second fastest sprinter at the trials. M.Usman and his younger brother M.Muzzamil enjoy playing cricket and are looking forward to play professionally after their Graduation.