NBP, WAPDA, PIA and Punjab (C) move into the semifinals

Karachi:  NBP, WAPDA, PIA and Punjab (C) have moved into the semifinals of the ongoing 33^rd National Junior Hockey Championship at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium here on Wednesday. Thursday (today) is the rest day. On Friday PIA will face WAPDA in the first and NBP will contest against Punjab (C) in the second semifinal.

Three goal by Shan Irshad and two by Mubashar of NBP edged out Army 6-1 in the first quarterfinal. The Bankers took time to catch their rhytem and slowly build up their score with a goal in each of the first three halves. However, they displayed their real offensive in the last half slamming three goals and conceded one. Shan scored three beautiful field goals in the 5^th, 48^th and 52^ndminutes respectively. Mubasher slammed two goals through successful convertion of penalty corners in the 17^th and 56^th minutes respectively. NBP Captain Ateeque also contributed his share scoring a fine field goal in the 45^thminute. After missing a couple of cahnces in previous halves, the soldiers fought hard in the last and made some fine moves to surprise the Bankers who by then had been relaxed after taking a massive lead. In the 59^th minute Fahad Sajjad took the ball from the half and raced towards the D where his individual effort earned the only penalty corner for his team. Ahmed Faran made no mistake in hitng the ball in the vacant corner. Atif Malik and Munawar Hussain supervised the match.

WAPDA cruised into the semifinal beating Pakistan Education Board in an interesting second quarterfinal. The victors struggled hard to get the desired victory as they faced tough resistance from the Board lads in the first two halves. Aqeeb was the man of the Match with his two beautifully strucked goals. He slammed his first in the 42^nd minute. In the 54^th minute of the match forwards Nayyar Haider and Umar Hamdi launched attack an attack. Hamdi passed the ball to Aqeeb in the D who made no mistake to give his team 2-0 lead.

In the fading moments of the match Boards’ Mohsin made a singular effort from his half to reach the D after dodging several opponents but a fouled interception disrupted his rythem which deprive him from a certain goal. Board could not capitalize on three penalty corners they were awarded in the match. Muneer and Moheyuddin were the field umpires.

PIA sticked Customs 7-2 in the third quarterfinal. Rana Sohail slammed two beautiful field goals, in the 5^th and 6^th minutes respectively, put PIA in the commanding position. Customs came back in the match scoring two goals in the second half. Bila in the 24^th and Sarwan in the 28^th minute scored field goals. Saif Ali of PIA also netted two gioals in the 17^th and 27^th minutes respectively. PIA’s Nohaiz Zahid (31^st minute), Muhammad Awais (38^thminutes) scored field goals while Abu Bakr converted a penalty corner in the 58^th minute. Kamran MP and Zahid were the umpires.

Lady Luck did not come on Railways’ way as they were surprisingly outshined by Punjab (C) 3-0 in the fourth quarterfinal. After conceding a goal in the 10^thminute through Mohammed Asif of Punjab, Railways resisted in the second half and did not concede a goal. Later, they not only wasted chances which costed them the crucial match. They again struggled hard in the fourth half to reduce the margin. In the 52^nd minute Nauman gave a pass to Nabeel Akram near the open D who could not deflect the ball. Two minutes later Hamza Waheed beautifully dribbled but missed the target again. From Punjab Mohammed Asif, Hannan Anwar and Mohammed Asif Junior  slammed goals in the 10^th, 31st and 50^th minutes respectively. Kamran Shafi and Shahid supervised the match.