KARACHI, June 14: Steel Mills had to dig deep before securing a sudden death penalty shootout victory over Pakistan Navy to move into the semi-finals of the President’s Gold Cup hockey tournament at the Hockey Club of Pakistan on Thursday.

It was Navy’s Mohammad Usman, who failed to convert sudden death penalty stroke, while Kashif Ali and Kamran Ahmad slotted home to send Steel Mills into the last-four stage.

The sailors lost the battle but with grace after a tooth- and-nail finish as a second-half goal by Abdul Mannan made the contest even at 3-3.

Navy cruised ahead in the 10th minute with a Rizwanul Hassan strike before Steel Mills got the leveller through Kashif in the 19th minute. Steel Mills went 3-1 up as Shahid netted four minutes before halftime, while Mohammad Rauf sounded the backboard in the 42nd minute.

Undaunted, sailors reduced the margin with a Mushtaq Ahmad strike in the 53rd minute and Mannan put the game on an even keel five minutes later.

As both sides failed to score in the extra time, the game was extended to penalty stroke session which saw two outfits still deadlocked at 4-4.

In yet another thrilling quarter-final, Rashid Imran’s scintillating last-gasp strike saw a resilient Habib Bank (HBL) bounce back from 2-0 down to edge past Port Qasim Authority (PQA) 3-2.

PQA were off to a confident start when they went ahead in the fifth minute as Samiullah banged home on a penalty corner. Overweight discarded Pakistan centre-forward Kashif Jawwad was PQA’s culprit two minutes later when he missed a sitter trying through a reverse hit instead of tapping the ball into the target.

HBL’s Adeel Hussain sent the ball over the bar, although he had an open chance in the 19th minute, while PQA moved the scoreboard 60 seconds later for their second which came through an Iftikhar Alam deflection.

It was all over for PQA as they caved in into the second period as quickly as they had scored goals in the opening half. Azlan Khan was the pick of the bankers attack as he rifled home following a perfect minus pass by Adeel five minutes into the second half.

While PQA were still trying to recover and regroup they received yet another shock five minutes later when once again Azlan arrowed in an Adeel back pass to make it 2-2.

Now visibly shaken, PQA were reduced to 10 players following temporary suspension to Wasif Raza. Rough tactics by PQA skipper Kashif saw him being yellow-carded in the 59th minute, but Tariq Yameen was also sent off controversially.

As PQA were in complete disarray and terrorised, the bankers looked in command as they searched for a third goal which came two minutes before fulltime as Rashid rounded PQA goalkeeper Shakeel Ahmad to slam home an inch-perfect Rizwan Khan pass.

Two-goal Mohammad Arif helped Wapda maul the star-studded SSGC 5-0 to qualify for the semi-finals.

Wapda’s Arif scored off a deflection with game just two minutes old. As SSGC seemed to be a disjointed lot after a demoralising 3-1 defeat against HBL in their last pool game, they were hardly seen in Wapda half throughout the first session.

Zakirullah doubled the lead after a minus pass from Arif in the 17th minute, while

Mohammad Khalid extended the lead on an indirect drill in the 24th minute. The winners squandered a golden opportunity when Rana Jawaid failed on a Rana Asif minus pass 10 minutes before break.

Rehan Butt made it 4-0 on an indirect try in the 40th minute, while SSGC former Pakistan penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas’s effort was saved by Wapda ‘keeper Shakir Munir five minutes later. Sohail, who failed to score a single goal in the tournament, was unnerved by a Wapda dasher in the 50th minute.Arif sealed the fate of the match with a goal on a rebound from Salman a minute before fulltime.

In an ill-tempered quarter-final which was completed in about two and half hours due to stoppages, PIA sent National Bank packing with a 5-2 win.

The match, which saw NBP’s Mohammad Nadeem and Tariq Aziz, and PIA’s Ihsanullah and Inayatullah being yellow-carded for brawl, was stopped at least three times because of clashes between rival players.

PIA started with an Inayatullah goal in the eighth minute which was equalised by Akhtar Ali in the 18th minute. PIA again took lead through Ihsanullah in the 44th minute, while bankers levelled via Imran Warsi in the 59th minute. PIA’s Mukhtar Alam stuck in the 60th minute and Mahmood Ali completed the tally four minuted later.

Semi-finals will be played on Saturday after Friday’s rest day.

Saturday’s fixtures:

Semi-finals: PIA v Wapda 2.30pm; HBL v Steel Mills at 4.30pm.