Islamabad Fighters win Hockey-5 title

KARACHI: Islamabad Fighters clinched the title of the first five-a-side floodlight hockey championship when they overpowered Quetta Warriors 8-5 at the National Hockey Stadium.

Islamabad immediately showed their intentions as they went up within the first six seconds when Olympian Rizwan Senior hit the target with a forceful shot.

In the third minute, it was 2-0 with Faisal Qadir finishing a good move.

Within seconds, Quetta pulled one back through Rizwan Jr, their savior on so many occasions. His excellent hit went in after touching the goalkeeper’s pads. Islamabad continued to get opportunities. A clinical move saw Ejaz easily making it 3-1. Islamabad controlled the proceedings while Quetta looked for the goal mostly via long-range hits.

Immediately on resumption, Faisal Qadir added one through an unstoppable rising hit from some distance.

Quetta came back with an excellent display. Relying mainly on counter attacks, they scored three goals in a five-minute spell of exhilarating hockey.

First, captain Kashif Ali netted one from close range. Then Faisal Shah’s wonderful reverse hit found the target. It was 4-4 when Rizwan Jr covered some ground and sounded the far corner of the goal with a slap shot. It was his 10th goal of the tournament. 

Stung by this sudden reversal, the Islamabad side tried utmost to regain the upper hand. It was an end to end stuff with the two goalkeepers the busiest in the field.

In the last minute of the second period, Quetta again committed the mistake of giving Faisal Qadir time and space, whose thunderous strike made it 5-4.

In the last 12-minute period, Rizwan Sr gave the final touches to a fast move. Then, Faisal Qadir sprinted with the ball from left to right to be in a position to fire in his trademark shot for his fourth goal of the night. It was 7-4 with time running out for Quetta. They reduced the margin with the goal of the final. Kashif running along the goal line dodged two defenders and then with a superb reverse hit beat the goalkeeper. But it was too late. The final score was 8-5 as Rizwan Sr, later named the Man of the Tournament, completed his hat-trick.

Faisal Qadir of Islamabad was declared the man of the match.

In the match for the 3rd position, Lahore beat Faisalabad 4-3 and for the 5th position Karachi Sharks defeated Peshawar in penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw.

Winners Islamabad received Rs700,000, the runners-up Quetta got Rs500,000, Lahore Rs400,000, Faisalabad Rs300,000, Karachi Rs200,000 and Peshawar Rs100,000.

Rizwan Sr (Islamabad) was given a Honda 125 motorbike.

Top scorer Dilber Hussain (12 goals, Faisalabad) got an LED TV. Usman Ghani (Lahore), declared the best goalkeeper, also won an LED TV.

Emerging Player of the Tournament Atiq Arshad of Faisalabad also got an LED TV.  PIA chairman Azam Saigol distributed prizes among the teams and the players.