KARACHI: Ihsanullah struck a brace, both on penalty corners, to steer his team PIA to an emphatic 3-1 victory over Pakistan Air Force (PAF) as 65th retired Air Marshal Nur Khan National Hockey Championship commenced at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

Ihsan slammed his goals in a span of 15 minutes (34th, 49th) as former champions PIA were kept at bay by airmen in the first three quarters.

PIA’s third goal came through the efforts of Shazeb Khan.

The airmen reduced the deficit through Shebaz in 59th minute after missing a few sitters.

Except for PIA-PAF match, all other four encounters turned out to be one-sided.

In an earlier match, Sindh humbled Islamabad 5-0 to earn full points in pool C match.

Waseem hit twice in the 18th and 50th minutes while Sardar Chandio (22nd), Faheem (44th) and Noman (47th) scored once apiece.

Islamabad earned no less then eight penalty corners but failed to avail any of them.

At the outset, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa taught a lesson to Gilgit scoring an overwhelming 11-0 victory.

The KP team was on a goal-scoring spree against their opponents. They netted three goals in first quarter and went on to add half-a- dozen goals to their tally to enjoy 9-0 lead at halt time. The remaining two goals came in the fourth and last quarters.

Saeed, Ismail and Amir Farooq shared six goals amongst themselves while Yasir, Shah Fahad, Farman, Irham and Zareem, one each, scored for winners.

In yet another one-sided fixture, Port Qasim Authority (PQA) sent Balochistan packing by tennis score (6-0) in pool D.

Ali Rehman found the net twice in 10th and 50th minutes while Haris (7th), Sabiul Hasan (20th), Bilal (34th) and Mehtab (58th) off PC, scored for PQA.

Punjab opened its account in pool B imposing to 7-0 victory over Fata. The winners led 4-0 at breather.

M. Arsalan and Ashfaq Ahmed scored two goals apiece while Arsalan Arshad, Ali Raza and Habibur Rehman struck once for winners.

Meanwhile, mismanagement prevails as the cash-strapped PHF has embarked upon the venute with no penny in its kitty. The players and media had tough time even to get drinking water.

Wednesday’s fixtures:

At 9am: SSGC vs Islamabad.

At 11am: Army vs Gilgit.

At 1pm: MPCL vs Fata.

At 3pm: Navy vs Balochistan.

At 5pm: NBP vs Police.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2019