LAHORE: Dar Academy, Lahore and Fiaz Academy, Sargodha qualified for the final of the Hi-Tech U-17 Inter-academy Hockey Championship here at the National Hockey Stadium No.2 ground on Friday.

Dar Academy maintained their winning streak recording their third consecutive victory beating Fiaz Academy 3-2 to top the league stage with nine points.

Fiaz Academy qualified for the final on a better goal average, after Tahir Zaman Academy were beaten by Aslam Rodha Academy, Gojra in the second match of the day.

A goal in dying moments from Kashif Siddiq helped Dar Academy edge out Fiaz Academy 3-2.

Though Fiaz Academy claimed that Kashif banged home before the final whistle, their objection was rejected by the umpires on the basis that Kashif hit the ball before the whistle, though it landed in the goalpost after the whistle.

Other scorers for Dar Academy were Suffyan Khan and Abdur Rehman. For Fiaz Academy Waleed scored twice.

Later, Aslam Rodha Academy defeated Tahir Zaman Academy, for whom the match was a must-win game in order to qualify for the decider.

But Aslam Rodha Academy defeated Tahir Zaman Academy 2-0 as Mohammad Ahmed and Mohammad Aziz slammed a goal each.

Legendary Olympian and former Pakistan captain Hasan Sardar and chief executive of the Asian Hockey Federation Tayyab Ikram were chief guests on the occasion.

Talking to media after the matches, Hasan suggested Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to include an All-Pakistan inter-academy tournament in its calendar of activities so that the academies working across the country could show their potential.

One of the best forwards the world has ever produced, Hasan said he witnessed very good hockey during the event, for which “credit should be given to the organisers [Dar Hockey Academy]”.

He said a good number of people were also turned up and such hockey events could revive hockey. He hoped the PHF would seriously consider his proposal.

Meanwhile, Tayyab announced a cash prize of Rs500,000 for hosts Dar Hockey Academy and Rs100,000 each for three other participating academies. He also gifted two goalkeeping kits to Dar Academy.

Speaking on the occasion, Tayyab said he also watched tough matches during the tournament, adding such events could increase the interest of the organisers to hold more hockey events.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2020