January 04, 2008	Friday	Zilhaj 24, 1428

LAHORE, Jan 3: Defending champions Army, Wapda and Railways marched into the semi-finals of the 47th National men’s basketball championship, winning their respective quarter-finals at the Railways Stadium here on Thursday.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) were 44-35 ahead against Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in the fourth quarter-final when bad light halted further play, deferring the remaining part of the match to Friday morning.

Both semi-finals will also be played on Friday when Army take on Railways while Wapda will face the winners of the PAF-HBL clash.

Army, who are defending their title, removed another hurdle when they easily trounced Higher Education Commission (HEC) 105-37 in the first quarter-final.

While maintaining an offensive stance against the lowly-rated HEC, Army gained a 56-22 lead in first half alone. Khalid Ahmed gave a brilliant performance, scoring 22 points. Khawar Ahmed with 20 points and Pervez Hussain 16 were the other key scorers for the winners.

HEC’s main struggle came through Haris (18) and Muhammad Naveed (14). Wapda, a possible threat for Army in the final, ousted Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF) Wah in a well-contested match 79-64, after having led the first half 29-18.

Prem Shahzad, Ahmad Jan and Jahangir Ahmed with 18 points each shaped the win for Wapda with Abid (24) and Ehsanullah (16) being the top scorers for POA Wah.

Meanwhile Railways who were ahead at the half-way stage by 51-32, proved themselves too good for NWFP, earning an impressive 71-36 win against them. Liaquat Ali (19), Allah Baksh (17), Azhar Qauyym (17) and Nawaz (14) were the chief scorers for Railways while Safeer Khan (17) and Rafique (12) were the top scorers for the losing side.