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NBP 8 Gujranwala 2
ABL 2 Faisalabad 1
PTCL 10 Peshawar 1
Wapda 20 Multan 0
KARACHI, Jan 28: Asif Ahmad’s second half hat trick gave National Bank (NBP) a thumping 8-2 victory over Gujranwala in the 50th National Hockey Championship at UBL Sports Complex Tuesday.
The hat trick by Asif, the second of the tournament, was the feature of the day, but unimpressive performance by star-studded Allied Bank (ABL) was also unexpected.
ABL, having Pakistan captain Mohammad Sarwar along with veterans like Khwaja Junaid, Asif Bajwa, Mohammad Saqlain, just managed to edge past minnows Faisalabad 2-1.
Other matches of the day were nothing but one-sided affairs as Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) thrashed Peshawar 10-1, while Wapda steamrolled Multan 20-0.
NBP, another outfit having several internationals, opened their account through a sixth-minute goal from Naeem Akbar, and doubled the lead with Mohammad Nadeem converting a penalty stroke in the 19th minute.
Adnan Maqsood was on target for NBP off a penalty corner in the 31st minute, but Gujranwala responded just a minute later when Khurram Shahzad slammed home the first short corner.
A 40th-minute penalty corner converted by NBP’s Zeeshan Ashraf saw Gujranwala retailiate with Mohammad Saleem reducing the margin three minutes later through a short corner.
But three consecutive goals from Asif knocked the life out of Gujranwala as they went 7-2 down. Asif found the cage in the 44th minute, slotted home his second the next minute, and then completed his hat trick off an indirect drill in the 63rd minute.
Owais Khan, the player of the match, completed the tally with a neat finish in the 66th minute as the Gujranwala defence was beaten.
The bankers, although, managed to grab full points after a narrow victory, their standard of play could only be rated as below-par. ABL were expected to tear the opposition to pieces remained unimpressive throughout the game.
The bankers, who also had Pakistan Whites coach Junaid, and Juniors coach Asif Bajwa, finally scored after a 26-minute display of mediocre play in the midfield, and in the rivals half when Saqlain netted off an indirect try.
After facing difficulty in invading Faisalabad circle, Babar Abdullah eventually scored the second in the 43rd minute. Faisalabad, however, threatened by reducing the margin in the 61st minute when Tariq Hussain converted a penalty corner.
Faisalabad’s Irshad was adjudged player of the match.
Wapda, now beefed-up after drafting Pakistan penalty corner exponent Sohail Abbas and Pakistan midfielder Waseem Ahmad, got off to a flying start as they bulldozed Multan in their first game.
Sohail, who left Habib Bank to play for Wapda last year, proved his new department made the right choice as he fired home seven goals from nine penalty corners. However, Sohail’s real test will start when he plays better outfits.
Wapda started with a third-minute goal from Sohail, and added three more before the breather to surge 4-0 ahead. Waseem found the target in the 5th minute, four-goal Rehan Butt netted in the 19th minute, while Sohail got his second in the 23rd minute.
Multan slumped further down as Wapda hammered in 16 goals after the break. Rehan, also named player of the match, sprang into action a minute after re-start, Zakirullah made it 6-0 in the 41st minute, Sohail had his name onto scoresheet for the third time two minutes later.
Multan proved merely a punching bag as Wapda sustained their domination, increasing the lead with a 45th-minute Rehan goal. Sohail sounded the backboards in the 49th minute, Zakir got his second in the 53rd minute, while Shahid Rabbani scored the next minute.
Zakir (56th minute), Sohail (57th minute), Rehan (58th minute), Mohammad Mudassir Junior (60th minute), Shahid (61st minute), Mudassir Junior (63rd minute), Naveed Iqbal (64th minute), Sohail (67th, 69th minute), completed the rout.
Peshawar, who proved a tough side against Karachi ‘A’ Monday, were demolished by youthful PTCL side who opened the scoring with a Shakeel Abbasi goal in the fourth minute.
Aqeel Hussain came into action three minutes later, Shakeel raided twice in the 14th and 24th minutes, player of the match Tariq Aziz was on target in four minutes later, Shakeel got his fourth a minute before halftime whistle.
PTCL onslaught did not stop yet after lemons as Tariq had his second a minute after resumption, Naeem Akram moved the scoreboard in the 57th minute, Akhtar Ali scored in the 60th and 64th minutes.
Peshawar got their consolation through Altaf Saeed in the dying moments of the game.
Wednesday’s fixtures:
ABL v Multan at 8.00am; Pakistan Army v Rawalpindi at 10.00am; Islamabad v Customs at 12.00pm; Faisalabad v Wapda at 2.00pm; Karachi ‘B’ v Sargodha at 4.00pm.
