KARACHI, March 31: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were crowned new national hockey champions after they edged past Wapda 2-1 in an ill-tempered final which saw two yellow cards at Hockey Club of Pakistan on Saturday.

While Wapda were visibly drained after an energy-sapping penalty shootout victory over SSGC the other day, the bankers looking fresh grabbed an early lead through Tariq Aziz who netted off a rebound after penalty corner striker Imran Warsi was unnerved by Wapda defences.

Wapda retaliated 10 minutes later but all Rehan Butt could do was to hit the side-netting before his second attempt two minutes later which sailed over the bar.

NBP bench officials called back aging former Pakistan captain Mohammad Nadeem who looked tired after 30-minute play and sent in young Owais Khan.

Wapda came close to equalise seconds before the break but Zubair’s effort went wide off target following a fine cross.

A pep talk by coaches must have instilled more confidence in NBP who slotted home the second few moments into second session when Akhtar Ali came into action from close range with an opportunist strike.

Wapda might have reduced the margin had NBP goalkeeper Shakir Munir not saved Zubair try on a penalty corner in the 37th minute.

Waqas Sharif found what Wapda were looking for quite a long time when he weaved past NBP defenders and cut in from right before firing home with a reverse hit to make it 2-1 in the 45th minute.

While Pakistan penalty corner specialist Imran Warsi could not make an impression on the game, he was the culprit when his angular penalty stroke was saved by Shakir in the 47th minute.

The bankers rued several chances wasted by Akhtar who came close to scoring in the 50th minute but squandered opportunity with reckless hit, although he had the cage wide open in front.

Just six minutes later, Akhtar again missed a sitter despite having ample time and space to score.

The proceedings turned ugly when Nadeem and Wapda’s Mohammad Shabbir got involved in a brawl following rough tactics in the 65th minute. While the two players exchanged hot words and jostled each other, their team-mates joined in the fracas.

The group of players had to be separated by umpires Jamil Butt and Mohsin Ali before the game restarted after temporary suspension to both players and stoppage of some five minutes.

The most ironic was the fact that both, Nadeem and Shabbir, are veteran Pakistan players and the incident happened in presence of PHF president Zafarullah Jamali.

Wapda were awarded two short corners just three minutes before the end, but the ball didn’t stop on both occasions because of uneven surface which caused problems to all the teams during short corners throughout the premier event.

NBP received Rs150,000 as cash prize, while Wapda Rs100,000, and SSGC Rs50,000 after they settled for third with a 6-2 win over Steel Mills.

Shabbir Ahmad, who was the top-scorer with 12 goals, pumped in four goals (20th, 21st, 52nd, and 55th minute), while Sohail Abbas (17th minute) and Saleem Khalid (43rd minute) were other scorers.

Imran Malik found the net in the 23rd minute, while Naveed Akram in the 62nd minute for Steel Mills.

NPP’s Adnan Maqsood was declared the best-player-of-the-championship.