February 28, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 29, 1427

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LAHORE, Feb 27: Nine matches were decided on the first day of 2nd national rugby championship at the DHA stadium on Monday.

Except Wapda and Balochistan, other seven participating teams played two matches each.

Balochistan, last year’s runners-up played three matches, winning one and losing two while Wapda played only one.

Defending champions DHA started the campaign for title in style, thrashing Sindh 24-0. But in the second match the reigning champions were shocked as newcomers Army drew against them 22-22.

DHA were leading 15-0, before Army bounced back to level the score 15-15, minutes before the regulation time.

DHA again surged ahead 20-15 with fourth try and further increased it to 22-15 with two penalty points.

But Army fought back bravely to earn seven points. Both teams earned two points from the drawn game.

Army also earned full three points by winning the opener against Police 27-10.

Wapda, another new team scored a morale boosting win beating last year runners-up Balochistan 12-7.

The losers gained 7-0 lead in the early stages. But Wapda came from behind to shock their strong rivals.

Earlier, Punjab also defeated Balochistan 20-14 in the opening match. Punjab earned 14-10 win against NWFP to remain unbeaten on the first day.

Railways carved out 10-0 win against NWFP.

But Railways in the second match lost to Balochistan 17-10. Seven more group matches will be played on Tuesday.

Top two teams of each group “A” and “B” will qualify for the semifinals.

The prefinals and finals will also be held on Tuesday.

Results:

Punjab beat Balochistan 20-14; DHA beat Sindh 24-0; Railways beat NWFP 10-0; Army bt Police 27-10; Balochistan beat Railways 17-10; Punjab beat NWFP 14-10; Police beat Sindh 26-0; Wapda beat Balochistan 12-7; DHA and Army drew 22-22.