Sindh off to winning start
KARACHI: Hosts Sindh opened their campaign on a winning note when they humbled Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in straight sets in the National Women’s Volleyball Championship which commenced at the KPT Sports Complex on Thursday.
Drawn in pool A, Sindh won the duel 25-22, 25-23 amidst applause from the crowd.
The match also marked the formal inauguration of the four-day championship which concludes on Sunday.
Karachi Port Trust (KPT) chairman retired Vice Admiral Shafqat Javed, formally inaugurated the event which is being held here for the first time.
On his directives, the gymnasium has been renovated and the cooling of the air condition has been made effective.
Also present at the opening, among others, were Pakistan Volleyball Federation chairman Chaudhary Yaqoob and the Sindh Volleyball Associatio (SVA) president Engr Shah Naeem Zafar.
All the eight competing teams, attired in colourful tracksuits, lined up in the air-conditioned gymnasium at the opening ceremony.
Earlier, AJK handed out a straight 25-13, 25-17 victory over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the first match of the day.
In the other matches, Balochistan suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Punjab and Higher Education Commission (HEC). First Punjab sent them packing 25-10, 25-5, and then HEC outplayed them 25-5, 25-10.
Punjab put up resolute performance when they carved out 2-1 victory over Army to register second win. They were home 17-25, 25-23, 25-11.
Holders Wapda started their title defence campaign on a winning note registering a straight 25-7, 25-2 victory over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Speaking on the occasion, the KPT chief, who is also chairman of the SVA, assured his full support to the PVF for the uplift of game in future also.
The league matches conclude on Friday and the top two outfits from each pool will cruise into semi-finals that will be played on Saturday.
Friday’s fixtures: Wapda v Sindh at 9am; HEC v Army at 10am; Wapda v AJK at 11am; Army v Balochistan at 2.30pm; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Sindh at 3.30pm; HEC v Punjab at 4.30pm.
Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2016