KARACHI: Nixor College and The Lyceum School annexed the boys and girls titles respectively as curtain falls on the retired Brig Rashid Ali Malik memorial inter-school (A-Levels) basketball championships at the Arambagh court on Thursday.

Nixor College coasted to 32-10 victory over The City School PAF Chapter in one-sided final to land the boys title. The winners led 14-6 at half time.

Danish Azfar and Rohaib Karim played vital role in their team’s triumph. The former emerged top scorer with 13 while the latter contributed seven.

Once formidable, The City School PAF Chapter failed to match the brilliance of their opponents as Abdul Rehman and Bilal Jamil could only score four points apiece.

Earlier, Bahria College NORE I seized third position in boys by getting the better of Indus Academy 39-14 in the playoff.

The pair of Umer Farooq (12) and Shehryar Nasir (10) were the pick of the match for winners. Taimoor Saeed top scored for the losers with eight followed by Daniyal Dada four.

Ayesha Ijlal and Iman Naqi, meanwhile, guided The Lyceum School to splendid 28-11 victory over the Indus Academy to clinch the girls’ crown.

Ayesha returned with 12 while Amna scored eight. Shezil Iftikhar and Sara scored eight and three points for the losers.

The City School Darakshan claimed third position when their rivals The City School PAF Chapter failed to turn up for the playoff fixture.

Besides the running trophies, shields, certificates, four special prizes were awarded in boys and girls categories apiece.

In boys, the best three-pointer award went to Taimoor Zaheer while the best free throw scorer award was claimed by Daniyal Dada. Umer Farooq won the emerging player award while Danish Azfar earned the most valuable player award.

Sara Latiwala captured the best three-pointer award while Fajar took home best free shot scorer title. Amna was adjudged emerging player while Ayesha Ijlal deservedly won the most valuable player award.

Retired Maj Osman Ali Malik, son of the deceased, who graced the finals, awarded the glittering boys trophy to the victorious team amidst applause at the presentation.

The Lyceum School players received the girls trophy from former basketball player Engr Mahfooz-ul-Haq.

Abdul Nasir, a former international and director of the Nasir Basketball Academy (NBA) took the initiative by launching the annual event.

The final and closing ceremony was largely attended by players and officials of different educational institutions and organisers.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2018