Hockey Passion Exclusive Colin Batch Rewinds Memories of Eight Minute Hat-Trick in the 1980 Champions Trophy at Karachi

It was a cold day at the National Stadium in Karachi sometime in early January 1980 – the venue of the 2nd Men’s Champions Trophy tournament – a talented 22-year-old attacking midfielder from Australia grabbed the eyeballs clobbering a sensational hat-trick against the Netherlands – setting a new world record for scoring the fastest international hat-trick within a span of eight minutes.

The man in question is Colin Batch, who was the cynosure of all attention at the National Stadium as he scored Kookaburras’ fourth, fifth, and sixth goals as they eased past the Netherlands 7-3 – a match in which Australia had to do all the catching up after the Dutch took a first-minute lead via a shortie conversion by Paul Litjens. Batch’s fastest international hockey hat-trick record stood for 29 years before South Korea’s Nam Hyun-Woo eclipsed that record at the 2009 Champions Trophy at Melbourne, where the Asian outfit drew Spain 5-5 – a match where Nam scored his team’s second, third, and fourth goals in a span of seven minutes.

Taking a stroll down memory lane, Colin really puts his memory-recalling cap on in an exclusive chat with Hockey Passion. “It was so long ago – 45 years to be precise, I had forgotten all about it. We happened to be playing in India at the 1996 Champions Trophy at Chennai – I was the assistant coach with the Kookaburras at that time. During my hotel stay one morning while I having my breakfast, two boys showed me a newspaper clipping of my world record – they enjoyed showing that to me and did relive some memories,” Colin recounts with a lot of effort.

The former Aussie stalwart, who was a member of the 1986 World Cup-winning team at London, reels off his memories of featuring in the 1980 Champions Trophy. “I was quite young and was only in the team for a little over a year – it was an incredible experience to play in Pakistan. So, it was exciting for me to perform in that tournament and score some goals,” he says.

The Australian side at the 1980 Champions Trophy wore a formidable look with the likes of captain Ric Charlesworth, Terry Walsh, Craig Davies, and David Bell in their ranks. The 66-year-old, who guided Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers to glory in the revived 6th Men’s Hockey India League, is happy to give credit to his team-mates for helping in scoring that fastest hat-trick. “I was on the end of some very good work by my teammates and I was only finishing. It was nice to do that in a short space of time. As you grow older, you understand the game a lot more and understand the tactics – you tends to control the game much more and maybe support a young player coming in to score goals. And that’s exactly what happened to me in that Champions Trophy,” he quips.

For the stats-minded, Australia secured a bronze medal at the 1980 Champions Trophy at Karachi.