NATIONAL HOCKEY: Two Wapda teams reach last-four stage

ISLAMABAD: Haleem Usman’s brace helped Wapda overcome PIA and reach the semi-finals of the 65th Air Marshal Noor Khan National Hockey Championship at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Stadium in Karachi on Thursday.

Both teams were locked at 2-2 seconds before the final hooter when Haleem netted the winner.

Wapda made an early impact as Samiullah banged home the opener as quickly as in the 2nd minute. Shafqat Rasool equalised in the second quarter. It took Wapda 11 more minutes to go one goal up again when Haleem’s first time strike made it 2-1.

Going into the final quarter, Wapda had a one-goal advantage. Experience Shafqat again dribbled past the defence to bring his team to level terms. Haleem’s strike in the dying moments of the match took Wapda through.

Abu Bakar’s lone penalty corner strike in the second minute saw National Bank edging out Navy in the second quarter-final.

Wapda Whites overcame Army’s main team 5-4 to qualify for the semi-finals.

Army took a 2-0 lead within seven minutes with Abdul Zabbar and Amjad Ali scoring a goal each. Both goals came on penalty corners.

Rana Waheed and Shajee Ahmad then made it 2-2 for Wapda Whites in the next 15 minutes. Adnan Baber put Wapda 3-2 up in the 21st minute. Awais Zahid then struck two goals in two minutes as Army again took a 4-3 lead before the end of the second quarter.

Wapda’s second string then came fighting back to score in the 47th minute through Adnan Anwar. A penalty corner goal in the last minute by Rana Waheed settled the matter.

In the last quarter-final, SSGC beat Army Whites 5-0. Mubashir Ali performed a hat-trick while Abbas Haider and Ghazanfar netted one goal each.

Wapda will play SSGC while National Bank will take on Wapda Whites in the two semi-finals on Sunday.