ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: In an awesome final, Police overpowered Wapda to stay national volleyball champions at the Liaquat Gymnasium on Friday.

Showing champion pedigree all through the tournament Police dropped a set before scoring a marvellous 25-21, 21-25, 25-15, 25-14 victory to pick up what was their 17th national title.

But Wapda were tough customers and were on a high after beating Indian Punjab in a hard-fought semifinal.

They came roaring back after conceding the closely-contested first set to pull level.

The opening set was marked by power play and nail-biting rallies as players on either side made brave attempts to make a winning start although luck seemed to favour Police.

Helped by Zafar Kuria, adjudged the Best Blocker and Naseer Ahmed, declared the top spiker of the week-long championship, Police then got their act together after the match stood at par.

They were a class act in the third set and never allowed five-time winners Wapda to come close taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

Wapda were clearly shaken by the third set defeat and any hopes of restoring parity were dashed by the rampant Police spikers who finished off their rivals in the fourth in quick time.

Irfan Nawaz, Abdur Raheem and Shahid Nawaz excelled for Wapda but their efforts went in vain as Police achieved what they had set out to get.

For them, laying their hands on the trophy was made largely possible by Naseer Ahmed, Ehsan Tipu and Zafar.

Wapda had some consolation when their player Liaquat Yar was named the Best Libro of the championship with the Most Valuable Player award going to Police’s Kashif Mansoor. He earned a cash prize of Rs 15,000.

It was an exciting finish to the championship that featured 14 teams including the visitors from Indian Punjab.

The touring side were handed a 25-21, 24-26, 25-17, 16-25, 15-13 defeat by former champions Army in the third-place play-off.

Meanwhile, a five match series between Indian Punjab and Pakistan Punjab is set to begin from Dec 11 with the first game at Lahore.

Other matches will be at Sialkot, Shakargarh, Sahiwal and Dera Ghazi Khan.

Results:

Police bt Wapda 25-21, 21-25, 25-15, 25-14; third place playoff: Army bt Indian Punjab 25-21, 24-26, 25-17, 16-25, 15-13

Awards: Best Libro: Liaquat Yar (Wapda), Best Setter Muhammad Zaman (Police), Best Blocker Zafar Kuria (Police), Best Spiker Naseer Ahmed (Police), Best Server Sarwan Singh (Indian Punjab), Best National Veteran Ehsan Tipu (Police) and Abdur Raheem (Wapda), Most Valuable Player Kashif Mansoor (Police).