The idea of the Champions Trophy was conceived by Pakistan in 1978, which was going through a purple patch in world Hockey at that point of time. Pakistan had just won the World Cup tournament in Buenos Aires, which incidentally, was its second World Cup triumph. Pakistan initiated the Champions Trophy in 1978. The idea was put forth before the FIH (the International Hockey Federation), which gave its approval for the tournament and allowed Pakistan to host the inaugural edition, as it was Pakistan’s idea. The city of Lahore was chosen as the venue for the inaugural edition of the tournament. The format of the Champions Trophy was designed in such a way that the country which won the tournament was awarded the gold medal, the runner-up was awarded the silver medal and the team which secured the third place was awarded the bronze medal.
In the inaugural edition of the Champions Trophy in 1978, Pakistan won the tournament and thus the gold medal. Australia was the losing finalist and took home the silver medal. Great Britain finished in third place and took home the bronze medal. Pakistan has won three gold medals, six silver medals and five bronze medals in this event so far. Pakistan would also go on to win the Champions Trophy tournaments in 1980 and 1994. The Pakistan team has scored nine hat-tricks in the Champions Trophy tournament so far. Key players like Abdul Rasool, Waheed Khan, Ijaz Chaudhry and Tanvir Dar contributed to the victory of the Pakistan Hockey team in the 1978 Champions Trophy.
Pakistan has won 14 medals in total in the Champions Trophy tournament. Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Holland, Spain, Pakistan, Korea and India are the only countries which have taken part in the Champions Trophy tournament for Hockey so far. Pakistan has hosted the Champions Trophy eleven times, including the 2004 Champions Trophy. Whenever Pakistan hosted the Champions Trophy, the venue was either Lahore or Karachi. Europe and Australia have also hosted the Champions Trophy.
Pakistan was the first country to win back-to-back World Cups and back-to-back Champions Trophies. Pakistan won the gold medal in the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1978 and went on to defend its crown in the next edition in 1980. During this period, Pakistan had also won the 1978 Hockey World Cup and would go on to win the 1982 edition as well. This remains the only instance in the history of Hockey when a team had won back-to-back World Cups as well as back-to-back Champions Trophies. No other Hockey nation has even come close to emulating this feat.
The Pakistan Hockey team would also go on to win the Asian Games gold medal in 1980 and the Olympic gold in 1984 (Los Angeles Olympics). It can be said that Pakistan completed the Grand Slam in Hockey during the period between 1978 and 1984. This period also coincided with the golden era of Pakistan Hockey which lasted between 1956 and 1984.