KARACHI: Defending champions Bounce Club and Malir Trojans beat their respective opponents to enter the semifinals of the 13th National Bank Cup Basketball Tournament here on Friday night at the Arambagh courts.

Bounce Club, who had a very tough game against Omega Club, edged past their rivals to win 38-35 in their last league match to emerge as Group A champions as well as made it to the semis. For bounce Club, thethe main scorers were Mohsin Riaz (10 points) and Zia Ahmed (10 points) supported by Saifullah Sherwani (8 points).

For Omega Club, Anas Azhar (7 points) and Mohammad Riaz (6 points) played well.

In the second match, Malir Trojans beat Clifton Crossover 42-39 to enter semis. Abbas Ali (12 points), Imran Khan (11 points) and Arsalan Khan (10 points) were the main contributors. For Clifton Crossover, Taha Ali (16 points) and saad Khan (14 points) were superb on the court.

Eariler, head of NBP’s SQG section Shaukat Mahmood Khattak, who was the chief guest on the day, was introduced to the teams by KBBA president Ghulam Mohammad.

It may be mentioned here that since the Neighbourhood Club, Omega Club and One Unit Club had equal points in Group A after the league matches, the tournament committee decided on FIBA rules that Omega Club will enter the semifinals.

Both the semifinals will be played on Sunday. In the first semifinal, Nishter Club will take on Omega Club while in the second semifinal, Bounce Club will meet Malir Trojans.

The final of the tournament will be played on Monday.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2018