ISLAMABAD, Aug 23: Rawalpindi’s Young Rising Stars booked their berth in the quarter-finals of the Fourth National Women’s Football Championship 2008, joining Punjab University’s Sports Sciences Department, Vehari United, Karachi’s Diya WFC, Wapda and Islamabad. According to Match Commissioner Muhammad Irfan Khan Niazi, the top two teams of each group will enter the quarter-finals to be played on Aug 25, 26 followed by the semi-finals to be held on Aug 28 and final on Aug 30.

The Sana Mehmood-led Rawalpindi’s Young Rising Stars, handicapped by the absence of Nadia Bhatti, Sahar Zaman, Zara Kiani and Yasmeen Tahira, opened the proceedings in a positive mood against the debutant NWFP in Group ‘D’.

They earned a 13th minute penalty-kick when referee Chaman Khan penalised a reckless challenge inside the NWFP area but to the dejection of coach Shahid Ahmed Khan, midfielder Malaika Noor failed to sweep the ball in. The score at interval was 0-0.

The newly-formed NWFP managed to come out on attack in the second session but their attempts failed to create any impression on Pindi’s keeper Syeda Mahapara.

Malaika made amends for her mistake by firing the last-ditch winner.

The ball took the deflection off a defender and crossed the line.

Meanwhile, the Ishrat Fatima-led Punjab Univerity’s Sports Sciences, who won last edition’s event at the same turf, outplayed Vehari United 3-0 in Group ‘A’.

Under the coaching of Sakhi Mian, Vehari United who needed to avoid a big defeat, achieved their target as Sindh made an exit from the event.

The scorers for the winners were Nighat Naheed (22nd min), Naima Mukhtar (43rd min) and Shakila Rehman (63rd min).

In the third match, Islamabad snatched a 1-0 win over Pakistan Police to top Group ‘C’. Spearhead Mejzgaan Orakzai hammered the lone goal in the 16th minute.

Sunday’s fixtures: Punjab v Higher Education Commission on Pitch 3; Diya Women’s Football Club v Azad Jammu & Kashmir on Pitch 2; Wapda v Young Rising Stars on Pitch 1. All matches kickoff at 6.00pm.