KARACHI: In tall scoring matches, national champions PIA Whites and fancied National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) lived up to their top billing by registering emphatic victories over their respective opponents in the two semi-finals to set a date for title clash on the penultimate day of the fifth Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup hockey tournament at Customs Preventive Service Club and Sports Complex on Thursday.

A burst of five goals in last two quarters enabled PIA post a commendable 5-1 victory over Pakistan Customs after NBP had coasted to 5-2 victory over Railways in the first pre-final.

The final between the two reputed outfits to be played on Friday at 3pm, will be a repeat of the recently held title clash of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Challenge Hockey Cup at Rawalpindi’s Army Hockey Stadium where the bankers inflicted 2-0 defeat on the national carrier to land the crown.

The pattern of the second encounter between once bitter rivals PIA and Customs was similar to that of the first played between NBP and Railways. Having produced a galaxy of stalwarts since country’s coming into being, Customs were the first to open their account through spearhead Haseem Khan in the ninth minute of the first quarter which they maintained till half time. Haseem came close to scoring another goal five minutes before second quarter but in vain.

The airlines, which remained at bay in the first two quarters, looked a different team after resumption slamming five goals in a span of 17 minutes, with Azfar Yaqoob contributing a brace in 41st and 58th minutes. Other scorers were Inayatullah (43rd), Waseem Akram (45th) and Nohaiz Malik (46th) off penalty corner.

PIA’s Amir Shahzad was declared Man of the Match and fetched a cash prize of Rs50,000 from chief guest director general, Directorate General of Transit Trade, Khawar Farid Maneka alongwith Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) hierarchy president Akhtar Rasool and secretary Rana Mujahid.

Earlier, having a number of Pakistan players including Rizwan junior, Arsalan Qadir, Mohammad Dilber, Ali Shan and Kashif Shah in their fold, the bankers were on a scoring spree after conceding a goal in the third minute. Owais, who broke the ice, also scored his team’s second goal in 49th minute to bring some respite in the match. Rizwan had a hand in both the goals.

The bankers found their rythum through Tariq Aziz who restored parity in 12th minute to finish one-all in first quarter. Back-to-back conversions of penalty corners by captain and full back Tauseeq Arshad in 18th and 23rd minutes enabled bankers to consolidate their position (3-1) which they maintained till the end of third quarter.

Arsalan Qadir made it 4-1 in the 48th minute before Railways reduce the deficit in the

very next minute. Syed Kashif Shah completed the rout off team’s seventh penalty corner in 53rd minute.

NBP’s Tauseeq Arshad who struck two goals won Man of the Match award of Rs50,000 from chief guest Dr Syed Junaid Ali Shah after the match.

Published in Dawn February 13th , 2015

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