NBP to face WAPDA in junior hockey final

KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and WAPDA moved into the final of the 34th U-20 National Hockey championship by winning their semi-finals comfortably at the HCP on Thursday.
NBP outclassed Sui Southern Gas Company 4-0 and WAPDA thrashed Punjab-A 5-0.
Defending champions NBP will face WAPDA in the final that will start at 5pm.
NBP completed hat-trick of wins against SSGC in the championship. It was their third encounter in last five years. The bankers struck the first blow in the 21st minute with good passing between Abid Hussain, Shan Irshad and Sikandar. They got a penalty corner which was converted by their captain Atiq Arshad.
Four minutes later Faizan Ali collected the ball from the 25 line and hit an accurate cross which was deflected by Mohammed Naveed in the 25th minute.
Azfar Yaqoob made a sole effort from the 25 line, dribbled brilliantly dodging three opponents to flick an incredible goal in the 42nd minute.
A move between Shan Irshad and Azfar Yaqoob created another penalty corner in the 51st minute, which was converted by Mubashir Ali.
There was no coordination among SSGC forwards. Most of their passes were intercepted by the opponents. They missed two open chances to score goals. Rizwan was outstanding throughout the match but he received no support from other lads.
In the second quarter, Rizwan made a lone attempt and entered the D but nobody was there to take his pass.
Adeel Lateef made an effort in the last quarter but he wasted his chance. They even failed to convert two back-to-back penalty corners that came their way in the last quarter. WAPDA beat Punjab-A in skill, experience and ball possession to register an empathetic win in the second semi-final.
Their forwards made fine moves and scored at will. In the first quarter, they scored three goals. Shahbaz completed his hat-trick, scoring field goals in 2nd, 8th and 17th minutes.
One goal each was scored by Bilal Mehmood (6th min) and Sohail Anjum (22nd min).
Punjab struggled hard to come back in the match in the third quarter. Their forwards intensified the pace of the match but they remained unable to score owing to poor ball possession.
Today (Friday) fixtures: Punjab-A vs SSGC (for third position) at 2:30pm.
Final: NBP vs WAPDA at 5pm.