LAHORE: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) defea­ted hosts Navy 3-1 to qualify for the semi-finals of the second Chief of Naval Staff All-Pakistan Hockey Championship here at the National Hockey Stadium on Thursday.

SNGPL joined the National Bank of Pakistan, Sui Southern Gas Company and Wapda in the semi-final stage.

NBP take on SSGC while Wapda face SNGPL in the semi-final matches to be held on Saturday.

On Thursday, the last day of the group stage, three matches were held and the most important of them was the clash between SNGPL and Navy as either of them could reach the last-four stage.

In a well-contested first quarter, both teams entered the opposing circle quite a few times, occasionally testing the net and each side earned a penalty corner. Navy couldn’t avail while the SNGPL made their count. Mohibullah sounded the board.

Navy completely dominated the first seven minutes of the second quarter, and had a number of circle penetrations but couldn’t turned them into success.

With most of the Navy men up front, SNGPL cashed in on two quick counters. First resulted in a penalty corner in the 23rd minute. A deceptive drill saw the ball reaching Suleman in the mid circle who doubled the lead.

Two minutes later, Imran received a fine pass near the circle and found only goalkeeper was ahead. He took some time before finding the target making 3-0 at the half time.

In the second half, Navy began the rescue job with a huge target of scoring four goals without conceding anymore to make the semi-final, but could record only one through Asif Ali (32nd minute).

In other matches, having no bearing on the semi-final lineup, Wapda defeated SSGC 3-0 as Mohammad Irfan, Ajaz Ahmed and Shajeeh scored.

The match between Pakistan Air Force and Police ended in a 2-2 draw. Mushtaq and Amjad Rahman scored a goal each for PAF while Atif and Murtaza Yaqoob were the scorers for Police.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2018