NBP wins the 35th National Junior Hockey Championship

Lahore: National Bank of Pakistan became the Champion of the 35^th National Junior Hockey Championship that concluded at the National Hockey Stadium here on Saturday. In the final Bankers beat Sui Southern Gas Company 2-0.

The floodlight final turned out to be one of the best matches of the Championship which was played under wet conditions and witnessed by a large crowd who fully enjoyed the proceedings. The match started on a high note. SSGC demonstrated excellent possession of the ball making a couple of fine forays in the first quart. In the 3^rd minute Ali Raza, Asif Iqbal and Muhammad Asim launched a fine move but the agile goalkeeper of the Bankers stopped a direct hit to frustrate their attempt. NBP bounced back in the 7^th minute through Azfar Yaqoob who took the ball from the half line and sprinted to enter into the Circle where he gave a pass to Mohammed Dilber who neatly pushed the ball to give lead to his team. In the 29^th minute the Bankers got their fourth penalty corner which Abubakar Mehmood successfully converted.

The match entered into an interesting stage in the last two quarts as SSGC intensified their efforts and exerted their pressure. Particularly, their forward Adeel Latif was outstanding who spearheaded a couple of moves for the amusement of the spectators who cheered brilliant stick work. Adeel first along with Zeeshan Bukhari initiated an attack in the 39^th minute but hard hit of Zeeshan was stopped by the goalkeeper. Then he and Samiullah made a move in the 48^th minute to earn the third penalty corner for their team which couldn’t be converted amid brilliant save by the goalkeeper. Sohail Janjua and Abdul Mannan supervised the match.

At the end Chief Guest Director General Sports Board Punjab Usman Anwar gave away cash prize of Rs. 500, 000 to Mohammed Atiq, the victorious captain. SSGC captain Mohammed Rizwan received cash award of Rs. 300, 000. PHF President Brig (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, Secretary General Shahbaz Ahmed Senior, Director General Brig (R) Mussarat Ullah Khan and Tournament Director Col (R) Sikandar Ghumman were also present in the prize distribution ceremony.

Earlier, the third position match between Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa (w) and ARMY could be played because of heavy rain. Both teams were declared joined winners. They would equally share prize money of Rs. 200, 000.