PESHAWAR, March 16: Rawalpindi beat Bannu in a crucial match while Lahore crushed Dera Ghazi Khan 9-2 in the league round of the 54th National Hockey Championship being played at the Astro-Turf of the Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium on Friday.

Rawalpindi edged past Bannu by 2-1 in a crucial match of the league round to ascertain their position for the final round qualification. The match between Rawalpindi and Bannu provided great thrill for the capacity crowd as Bannu took lead in the 7th minute through Zia-ur-Rehman on the first penalty corner conversion. After 10 minutes, Rawalpindi scored to level at 1-1.

In the second-half Rawalpindi got the lead through right-winger Tariq Hussain. Tariq got a long hit from Usman at the top of the circle and by dodging a defender he hit into the net to make it 2-1.

In the second match Gujranwala and Sargodha played goal-less draw. In the other match Lahore Colours outplayed Dera Ghazi Khan 9-2. For Lahore Colours, Rizwan scored four goals including a hat-trick while Muhammad Irfan and Abdul Khaliq scored two goals each. —APP