KARACHI, Dec 24 Karachi won the NBP Sindh Inter-district Hockey Championship after five years by beating Larkana 3-1.

The final saw Karachi's fullback Shahzad Hanif opening the score for the winners by converting a penalty-corner in the 10th minute.

But parity was restored by Larkana's centre-forward Majid Kalhoro in the 30th minute. The score at halftime remained 1-1.

Karachi took the lead again in the 45th minute through their right-in Noman Zakir and left-out Rizwan Zakir added another in the 50th minute.

Ghufran Bukhari (Nawabshah) and Zulfqar Hussain (Sukkur) umpired match.

Sindh Minister for Sports Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, the chief guest on the occasion, announced Rs50,000 from his pocket for the Karachi Hockey Association (KHA). He also announced that the laying of Astroturf at the hockey ground in Larkana would be completed by Feb 2010.

KHA's newly-elected President Wasay Jalil, too, called up from London to congratulate the Karachi team for winning the event after five years.

The final was also watched by Olympian Shahid Ali Khan, Manager Pakistan Whites Olympian Akhlaq Ahmed, Selector Mohammad Shafiq, Olympian Iftikhar Syed, Sindh Hockey Association (SHA) President Gulfraz Ahmed and Secretary Rao Mohammad Saleem.

Later, head of NBP's sports department Iqbal Qasim announced that the tournament will be made a yearly feature.