RAWALPINDI: After winning their respective semi-finals, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) have advanced to the final of the Chief of Army Staff Challenge Cup.

In the first semi-final of the day, PIA thumped SSGC 4-1.

The SSGC, whose captain Shakeel Abbasi left them the other day to participate in international league matches, gave a good fight in first two quarts.

PIA’s Nohaiz Malik on a short-corner scored their first goal in the third minute of the game. However, SSGC players made good comeback and made several moves, though lacked finishing.

At the end of second quart, PIA were leading the match 1-0. Rizwan Ali equalised for the SSGC in the 34th minute.

In the 40th minute, Kashif Ali scored second goal for his side and two minutes later, Atif Mushtaq banged in with another goal.

Zubair Mehmood scored their fourth goal in the 50th minute, ensuring their convincing victory.

In the second semi-final, National Bank defeated Army (Seniors) 2-1.

It was relatively a good fight between the two but the bankers managed to come out of that victorious after a nerve-wrecking contest.

Army received two penalty-corners in the very first minute of the match but they could not utilise them.

From the NBP side, Ali Shan scored a beautiful field goal in the fifth minute. Forward Bilal Qadir doubled the lead in the 42th minute.

Army’s only face-saving goal was scored by Mohammad Imran in the very last minute of the game.

The final will be played at the Army Hockey Stadium on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play