Imam Baksh Sajidi XI win Lyari Football League

KARACHI: Imam Bakhsh Sajidi XI lifted the 5th Lyari Football League after beating Sir Siddiq Singhar 2-1 in the final here at the Peoples Sports Complex on Saturday.

Zubair put Imam Bakhsh Sajidi XI 1-0 ahead in the fourth minute. However, Ihsan struck an equaliser for Sir Siddiq Singhar in the eighth minute. At half time, the match was evenly poised at 1-1.

Soon after the start of the second half, Sameer struck the winner as the slim lead was superbly defended by Imam Bakhsh Sajidi XI till the end of the 60-minute showdown witnessed by a sizeable crowd.

Sameer was adjudged man-of-the-match for his fantastic winner.

In the semi-finals, Imam Bakhsh Sajidi defeated Captain Umar Hangoro 3-0 on penalty shootout after the clash ended 1-1 in the scheduled time, while Sir Siddiq Singhar crushed MM Mehdi 3-0 to qualify for the final.

K-Electric’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tayyab Tareen gave away trophies and cash awards to the leading teams and players.

The winners Imam Bakhsh Sajidi XI went away with a trophy and a purse of Rs100,000 while the runners-up Sir Siddiq Singhar XI received Rs 75,000 and the runners-up trophy. MM Mehdi, who secured third place, got Rs50,000.

In the ten-day affair, as many as sixteen under-16 outfits, one each from the 15 union councils of Lyari and one combined side, took part. In the competitions, around five such players featured who have represented Pakistan in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-14 football festival.