Exciting semis on the cards in National Hockey

RAWALPINDI: Exciting semi-finals are on the cards in the 66th National Hockey Championship on Thursday (today) as all four teams are confident of going through to the final.

National Bank will take on Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) while Wapda will play tournament’s surprise package Navy in the two semi-finals at the MPCL Ground here.

NBP head coach Tahir Zaman, who is also an international high-performance coach, has vowed that his team will go all out against SSGC.

“We will be playing the semi-final after two straight defeats. We didn’t play well against Navy and lost to Wapda after dominating most part of the game,” Tahir said. “But you will see a different team altogether tomorrow as it is a do-or-die match.”

He hoped penalty corner specialist Abu Bakar and the experience of Arsalan Qadir would help his team. “We are missing our main schemer Hammad Butt’s services and have reshuffled our resources in his absence. But we have a point to prove tomorrow,” he said.

SSGC will be counting on the championship’s highest goal scorer Mubassir Ali and Ali Shan to deliver the decisive punch against their tough opponents.

Navy look determined to spring another surprise when they take on one of the favorites Wapda.

“We are capable of beating Wapda after what we showed against them in the league match. We came close to drawing level and were almost there before missing a couple of opportunities in our 2-3 loss,” Navy coach Junaid Khan said. “We will enter the field with fresh vigor and hopefully will manage to upset Wapda’s rhythm.”

Junaid was confident his players would keep up the same momentum that saw them beating National Bank and then MPCL in an all-important match. “We can make it three out of three,” he said.

Wapda coach Waqas Sharif, a former international, was also confident of maintaining their unbeaten run in the tournament.

“We have beaten them earlier and can beat them again. They are tough but we are tougher. Hopefully, we will come out winners with an even bigger margin than what we achieved in the league match,” he said. “We have planned for the semi-final in a better way and hopefully we will execute it professionally.”

Some exciting hockey is on the cards but Wapda and National Bank look favourites to reach the title decider because of the experience they have in their ranks — an element that always helps in crunch matches.