LAHORE: Defending champions Lahore Lions and Peshawar Deers reached the final of the second Women’s Hockey Super League here at the National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.

Karachi Dolphins were also in the run for a place in the decider. But the result of last-day matches sent Deers and Lions into the final on points.

When Deers played — with six points under their belt -- in the day’s last match against Karachi Dolphins who held five points, a win or draw was enough for the former to reach the final. And the Deers managed to hold Dolphins to a 1-1 draw to qualify.

In the first match, the Lions struggled to overcome last year’s runners-up Quetta Panthers as the solitary goal of the match from Sidra Parvaiz proved decisive.

Sidra managed to score the all-important goal in the 18th minute as Lahore topped the table with 10 points to enter the final.

In the second match, the Deers earned the lead first in the 26th minute through Maira Sabir who converted a short-corner. The lead remained intact till end of the third quarter. Karachi captain Afshan Naureen raised her team’s hopes when she equalised in the 48th minute.

The last 12 minutes saw Karachi desperately looking for the winner, but Peshawar defence remained rock-solid.

While Lahore finished at the top with 10 points, Deers with seven points and Dolphins (six) remained second and third at the end of the league matches.

Quetta Panthers showed dismal performance getting just two points to earn fourth position while Islamabad Shaheen (one point) finished at the bottom in the five-team league.

The final begins at 11:30am on Sunday. Dolphins face Panthers for the third-place playoff at 8:00am the same day.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2018