HBL 2 ABL 2
PTCL 2 Customs 0
NBP 6 PAF 0
Army 4 Railways 1
Wapda 7 Navy 0
POF 6 UGC 3
LAHORE, Jan 14: Olympian Muhammad Sarwar rescued Allied Bank (ABL) from defeat with a 65th minute equaliser against Habib Bank (HBL) for a 2-2 draw in the 50th National Hockey Championship qualifying round for departments at the National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.
Both the teams failed to break the ice in the first half.
Good hockey was witnessed in the match in which many internationals were representing the two sides. It was also the first drawn game of the tournament.
Zahid Afzal put ABL ahead 1-0 in the 45h minute by scoring a field goal. HBL did not take much time to respond, not only levelling the scores but also going head 2-1, when Ejaz Rasool found the target in the 50th minute and then scored again three minutes later.
However, Sarwar came to the rescue of ABL by converting a penalty-stroke in the 65th minute. The stroke was awarded when a HBL’s defender obstructed Muhammad Saqlain.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) defeated Customs 2-0, after playing a goalless first half.
Ghazanfar Ali drew first blood in the 48th minute. Naeem Akram doubled the lead in the 63rd minute to help PTCL earn their second win in three matches.
National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) started their campaign in style, registering an impressive 6-0 win against Pakistan Air Force in the opener. The bankers gained a 4-0 lead in the first session.
NBP scored their first two goals through penalty-corners. Skipper Muhammad Nadeem converted the first in the 2nd minute of play then Imran Ali Warsi scored the second, five minutes later. Javaid Iqbal put the team ahead 3-0 in the 9th minute, while Adnan Maqsood made it 4-0 in the 29th minute. The lead remained in order till the first half.
In the second session, the bankers reduced the pressure of attacks on the depleted PAF and added only two more goals. Asif A. Khan struck in the 54th minute and Nadeem fired his second in the 69th minute to increase the tally to 6-0.
Two goals by international Dilawar Hussain helped Army thrash Railways 4-1 in their opening match. Army led 2-0 at the interval.
Skipper Zaheer Akhtar found the cage in the 12th minute while Dilawar doubled the lead in the 25th, scoring his first goal in the tournament.
Both the goals were scored off short-corners. Saeed Ahmed further increased the lead 3-0 after the interval, when he fired home a field goal in the 45th minute.
Rashid Imran scored the consolation goal for Railways in the 49th minute. Four minutes later, Army scored their final fourth goal through Dilawar.
Wapda earned their third consecutive victory sending the Navy crashing to a 7-0 defeat after taking a 6-0 lead in the first session.
Sohail Abbas converted the second penalty-corner to put Wapda ahead 1-0, when the game was only eight minutes old. Mudassar Ali extended the lead to 2-0 in the 15th minute. Rehan Butt came to further increase the lead 3-0 in the 19th minute.
Skipper Shabbir crowned a field effort to score a goal in the 25th minute for a 4-0 lead. One minute later Mudassar added his second goal and Aamir Hussain was on target in the 33rd minute to help Wapda finish the first half 6-0.
After the resumption, only Muhammad Asif succeeded in scoring a goal for the Wapda in the 61st minute.
In another match of little significant, Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF) earned a 6-3 win against University Grants Commission (UGC), after gaining a narrow 3-2 lead at half time.
Three goals by Muhammad Afzal played a key role for POF’s win.
UGC made a flying start taking a 2-0 lead when Muhammad Fayyaz and Asif Hashmi converted short-corners each in the 6th and 9th minutes respectively.
But POF staged a comeback and scored three goals in a row to forge ahead 3-2.
Afzal scored his first goal in the 13th minute, also converting a short-corner, then Safdar converted the fifth penalty in the 23rd minute to equalise the scores 2-2.
Afzal scored his second goal five minutes before the half time whistle to put POF ahead 3-2.
After resumption, UGC earned the equaliser through Shoaib Ahmad, who converted a penalty-corner in the 37th minute.
But POF took complete control of the match by scoring three more goals in just six minutes. Captain Shafiqulul Islam scored the fourth goal in the 9th minute followed by Yaseen Anwar in the 62nd minute and Afzal’s third goal in the 64th minute to seal the fate of the game.
Only three matches will be played on Wednesday.
PIA vs Army 12.30. Police vs PAF 12.30. Railways vs NBP 2.30.