KARACHI: Fancied National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) opened their title defence campaign on a winning note while handing a crushing 4-0 defeat to Railways in the pool ‘A’ match of the 34th National Junior (under-20) Hockey Championship which commenced at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium on Thursday.

Earlier, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) outplayed Punjab B 9-1 while Army and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shared points after a 3-3 stalemate.

Two goals in a span of seven minutes enabled the bankers to conjure up an emphatic victory over Railways who put up considerable resistance in the first two quarters. The bankers broke their thirst when Shan Irshad drew blood in the dying moments of first quarter. The second quarter failed to produce any goal and the teams changed ends with bankers enjoying 1-0 lead at half time.

Atiq consolidated his team’s position by slamming second goal in the 31st minute. Mubashir Ali made it 3-0 by converting a penalty corner while Amir Ali sealed the fate in 52nd minute.

Three-goal Ilyas Ahmed (14th, 20th, 40th) and a brace by Adeel Latif (7th, 49th) enabled SSGC overwhelm Punjab “B” in the pool “B” encounter. Saran Bin Qamar, M. Rizwan, Shahnaz and Zeeshan shared one goal apiece for the winnin outfit. Punjab could manage to found the net once through Usman Farooq in the 15th minute.

Army fought back from 2-3 down to hold Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to a 3-all draw in the pool “D” match played in the morning.

The soldiers had a brisk start when Shan Ali opened their account in the seventh minute. However, the lead was short-lived as opponents drew level through Saeedullah in the 18th minute. The soldiers again surged 2-1 through Irfanullah in the 44th minute only to concede two goals. Captain Zahidullah brought the teams on even terms by scoring off penalty corner in 51st minute while Amjad Rehman added the third two minutes later. Shan did the needful for soldiers when he converted team’s second PC in the 55th minute that brought the teams on even terms.

Meanwhile, the organisers have revised the draws after Gilgit Baltistan team arrived here on Wednesday night raising the number of teams from 12 to 13.

Friday’s fixtures:

PIA v Punjab “B” at 8am; Wapda v Pak Board at 10am; Balochistan v Railways at 3pm; Sindh v Gilgit Baltistan at 5pm.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2015

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