LAHORE: PIA and Customs Lahore set date for the final after winning their hard-fought semi-finals on penalty-shoots in the PT Yaqoob Memorial Hockey Tournament in Gojra on Thursday.

The final will be played on Friday.

Customs Lahore which appeared in any domestic tournament after a long layoff managed to successfully take up the challenge from a rather strong Wapda team by winning the semi-final 6-5 on penalty shoot-out.

This kind of performance from Customs, which was used to be a giant force at the national level, may pave the way for the development of the game of hockey.

Having played a goalless first half, Customs and Wapda scored one each before the final whistle with the two teams being awarded five penalty-shoots each at the end of the regulation time.

Customs cashed in on all five penalties while Wapda missed out on one to make exit from the event. For Customs, Asif scored a field goal in the 33rd minute which was equalized by Wapda’s Rana Umair in the 59th.

Customs Ali Shan (2), Bilal Qadir, Asad and Sultan Ashraf converted the penalty-strokes while Wapda’s Shahbaz, Mohsin Bilal, Ejaz and Zubair capitalized on the penalty-strokes.

In the other semi-final, PIA edged out Sui Southern Gas Company 6-4 on penalty-shoots with the stipulated time ending at 2-2. Both the teams were 1-1 at the end of the first half.

For PIA’s Mohammad Zubair and Kashif Ali scored one goal each during the regulation time while SSGC’s Saleem Khalid and Arslan scored for their team.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2015

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