NBP to face SSGC in junior hockey final

KARACHI: NBP crushed KP (w) 4-0 and SSGC defeated Army 2-0 in the semi-finals of National Junior championship at National Hockey Stadium, Lahore, on Thursday.

In the first semi-final, played under floodlights, two beautiful field goals by forward Amir Ali (10th & 49th minutes) and one goal each by Azfar Yaqoob in the 23rd minute on a penalty corner and a field goal by Mohammed Dilbar in the 30th minute steered NBP into the final. 

Experience was the difference between NBP and KP (w). Playing the semifinal of the national championship was itself a matter of great pride and satisfaction for the boys of KP (w) who earned a place in the semis after beating some of the best teams.

KP (w) lost the match but they played aggressively throughout the match.

They got three penalty corners and had almost converted one but the ball hit the bar.

Their goalkeeper Roman Khan was outstanding throughout the match and saved at least three certain goals. 

Sohail Janjua and Yasir Khurshid supervised the match.    

In the second semi-final, SSGC players showed their brilliance. Adeel Latif and Rana Sohail made a fine move in the 4th minute which provided a chance for Sohail who struck a beautiful field goal. Army struggled hard to level the score but faced tough resistance from their opponents.

Mohammad Rizwan and Zeeshan Bukhari made another move with excellent short passes and Zeeshan netted a spectacular field goal in the 44th minute.

Army showed aggression in the last quarter which disturbed their opponents. In the 51st minute they got a penalty corner but Waqas Ali’s hard hit banged the bar. Four minutes later Army got another chance but their captain Mohammed Imran failed to score. Haroon Rasheed and Abdul Mannan were the field umpires.  The final will be played on Saturday (tomorrow) evening.