Army retain basketball crown

LAHORE: Army retained the crown when they beat WAPDA 71-45 in the final of the National Basketball Championship which concluded at the Sports Board Punjab Courts on Monday.

It was a hotly-contested decider between the two traditional rivals. Army exerted pressure at the start of the first quarter through Rashid and Niamat, who exchanged excellent passes. In the second quarter, Army put more pressure through Atif and Farhad, who skillfully carried the ball and scored precious points. WAPDA were trailing 25-45 at the end of the second quarter.

WAPDA tried hard to narrow the deficit in the last quarter.

Atif (16) and Tughlaq (15) were the top scorers for Army.

For WAPDA, Zahid and Abid scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.

In the first semi-final, Army had defeated Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) 92-55.

Atif and Tughlaq scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, for the winners.

Izhar scored 12 points from POF. In the hard-fought second semi-final, WAPDA beat Lahore Division 66-61.

In the third position match, Lahore Division defeated POF 66-59.

Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Jahangir Khanzada graced the closing ceremony. Army were handed over the winners’ trophy and a purse of Rs100,000, while WAPDA received Rs75,000.