KARACHI, Feb 12: Habib Girls School and The City School, North Nazimabad triumphed on the opening day of the Karachi Women’s Netball Cup 2008 being played here at the Habib Girls School ground.

The opening match between Habib Girls School and The City School, Darakshan Campus, which was umpired by Khalid Parvaiz and Khuram Suleman, saw Habib Girls scoring as many as 12 goals as they thrashed the City School, Darakhshan, who could only manage one goal in reply.

The score was 5-0 at the halftime and eight more goals came in the second half with City School scoring one of them. The match saw some pretty rough play from the City School girls as they attacked their rivals both physically and verbally while making little impression with their ordinary skills. Adom Irfan, the goalie for the Habib Girls’ even had to receive first aid for her bleeding hand.

The second match, another one-sided affair between The City School, North Nazimabad, and Aisha Bawany Academy, saw The City School winning easily by 23-1. It was Aisha Bawany’s first time in an Under-16 netball tournament and they showed good sportsmanship, taking the defeat rather well. The game was umpired by Muhammad Anwar and Yasir.

Some eight schools — Karachi Grammar School (middle section), Aisha Bawany School, Habib Girls School, and the City School’s Darakhshan, North Nazimabad, PECHS, Gulshan and PF chapters — are participating in the first phase of the tournament, organised by the Sindh Netball Association (SNA) in collaboration with the Pakistan Netball Federation (PNF).

Earlier, the championship was declared open by Mrs Naseem Ara Pahwar, senior vice-president SNA, the chief guest on the occasion.

There will be no matches on Wednesday due to anticipated disturbances within the city. The new schedule of the tournament will be announced later.