March 15, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 6, 1429

LAHORE, March 14: Underdogs NWFP stormed into the national volleyball championship quarter-finals, outplaying fancied Pakistan Air Force (PAF) 3-0 at the Wapda Sports Complex on Friday.

The other teams, which qualified for the quarters were defending champions Pakistan Army, Wapda, Police, Pakistan Navy, Punjab and POF Wah.

NWFP stunned the PAF with set scores 25-22, 26-24, 25-21. However, despite the defeat, the air force also reached the last-eight stage as the runners-up from pool ‘D’.

From NWFP Aimal Khan, Rameez Khan, Nasir Khan and Nasir Jr were at their best while the PAF’s notable performers were Mohammad Ismail and Saqib.

The Army had to fight hard to overcome the Navy’s challenge, winning 3-2 in 90 minutes with set scores 21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 15-11.

However, Navy and Army both qualified for the quarter-finals from pool ‘A’.

In other matches, Wapda became pool ‘C’ toppers after beating Punjab 26-24, 25-20, 25-17. Punjab also entered the last-eight stage as the pool runners-up.

Wapda were too good against Punjab in attacking and shooting. Irfan Nawaz, Farooq Khan and Javed Ahmed excelled for them.

Police, with several international players in their ranks, penetrated into POF Wah’s rock-solid defence to earn a notable straight-sets win 25-18, 25-19, 25-15.

Mohammad Zaman, Zafar Iqbal and Mohib Rasool fared well for the winners. Ehsan Iqbal showed glimpses of good play for POF Wah.

In other two matches of academic interest, Pakistan Railways beat Frontier Constabulary 26-24, 25-20, 25-17, while Fata struggled to earn a 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 21-25, 17-15 win against the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in the event’s longest match that lasted 110 minutes.

Saturday’s fixtures (quarter-finals): Army v Punjab; Wapda v Navy; Police v PAF; NWFP v POF Wah.