QUETTA: Women’s softball became the first discipline to reach the final stage at the National Games with Pakistan Army and Wapda setting up the gold-medal match on Monday.

Meanwhile, women’s hockey reached the semi-finals stage while semi-finalists were also decided in boxing.

Eight players scored two runs each as Army overwhelmed Sindh 17-0 on the mercy rule in the third innings of their softball semi-final while Madina got three runs as Wapda thrashed Higher Education Commission 14-1 on the mercy rule in the fourth innings of the other last-four clash.

There was better luck for HEC in women’s hockey as their team made it to the last-four stage for the first time in six years. They will play Army for a spot in the final.

Army’s men’s hockey team advanced to the quarter-finals after they came from behind to rout Balochistan 6-1 while Pakistan Navy also made it to the last eight by scoring twice after half-time to beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4-2.

At the Ibrar Hussain Boxing Hall, the last-four line-up was decided in four categories.

Army’s Mohammad Qasim, Jalaluddin of Wapda and Samama Rehman recorded points wins in their men’s bantamweight quarter-final ties while Noor Ali of Balochistan advanced when his contest against HEC’s Ashraf Khan was stopped in the first round.

In the women’s 51-54kg quarter-finals, Shehrish Shehzad of Pakistan Air Force and HEC’s Humna Mumtaz got points wins — the latter edging Army’s Ummul Banin 3-2 — while Wapda’s Nimra and Pakistan Navy’s Nitasha Urooj advanced after their opponents were unable to continue.

There were points wins for all four semi-finalists — Naqeebullah of Wapda, HEC’s Asmatullah and Army duo of Sikandar Mirza and Zakir Hussan — of the men’s flyweight event while Punjab’s Sara Hanif, Navy’s Mariam and Bushra Akhtar of PAF made the final four of the women’s flyweight event.

The volleyball events commenced with Army beating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 in the opening fixture of the men’s tournament with Navy thumping Sindh 25-8, 25-11, 25-14 in the other Pool ‘A’ game.

Wapda began their campaign in Pool ‘B’ with a 25-15, 25-14, 25-13 win over Balochistan while PAF overwhelmed Punjab 25-13, 25-11, 25-20.

The women’s tournament began with Sindh overcoming Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25-18, 22-25, 25-16, 25-15 in Pool ‘A’ while Wapda recorded a dominant 23-3, 25-13, 25-9 win over Balochistan in the other game of the section. In the three-team Pool ‘B’, Army downed Islamabad 27-7, 25-7, 25-18.

Competitions also began in kabaddi, handball, badminton and baseball with fencing and rugby 7s to start from Tuesday. The Games formally open on May 22.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2023