KARACHI: Formidable Nishtar Club won the four-a-side (half court) basketball tournament imposing straight victory over Dow International Medical College (DIMC)-2 in the exciting final played at the Arambagh floodlit court on Sunday evening.

The winning quartet that comprised Ali Chanzeb, Talha Amjad, M. Shabbar and M. Haroon delighted the crowd with their swift passes and scoring on way to returning 48-33, 58-47 victorious over their opponents.

The DIMC-2, on the other hand, that includes Waleed, Ghazi Khan, Adnan Sheikh and Azeem Qazi fought courageously and earned applause from the spectators. They had stunned DIMC-1 in the semi-finals.

Arambagh Club had to be content with third position inflicting straight 30-25, 35-32 defeat on DIMC – 1 in a keenly contested playoff match that preceded the final.

The juniors under-18 title went to Shah Wilayat School who overcome fighting Knight Club in three games final. The winners were home 54-24, 29-38, 58-50.

Pafians seized third position by getting the better of Apsians straight 30-16, 28-15.

Meanwhile, M. Shabbar scored 13 shots to win the three-point competition. He was followed by Ali Chanzeb 10 and Haroon Khan nine. All the participants were given 45 shots — 15 in each round and three from five different positions — out of three point D.

Danish Rathore excelled in the two-point event by basketing 21 shots out of 45 in three rounds. Zain-ul-Abedin with a tally of 16 finished runner-up while the third position went to M. Shabbar with a score of 15. Syed Adnan Ali clinched the free-throw event scoring 20 of the 30 shots in three rounds. The second position went to S. Ahmed Ali who scored 16 throws followed by Haroon Khan 15.

Held for the first time under the aegis of Karachi Basketball Association (KBA), the event was aimed at improving all round skills of local players.

Former international and retired director sports Punjab, Syed Maudood Jafri, who is here on a private visit from Lahore, graced the final and distributed gold, silver and bronze medals among the men and junior teams, besides top three players apiece of three-point, two-point and free-throw events. The KBA secretary former international Abdul Nasir was also present.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2015

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