Lahore, Faisalabad reach Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey final

LAHORE: Lahore and Faisalabad reached the final of First Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey Championship 2021 after winning their nail-biting semifinals at National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.

Lahore defeated Sargodha by 6-5 on sudden death while Faisalabad beat Bahawalpur by 3-2 to reach the final. The title clash of the 9-team tournament will be played on February 9 (Tuesday) at the National Hockey Stadium.

The first semifinal was played between Faisalabad and Bahawalpur in which Faisalabad edged past Bahawalpur by 3-2.

M Sajid of Faisalabad was in excellent form throughout the match. He scored two splendid field goals in 14th and 49th minutes. His teammate Moazzam utilised a beautiful move to score his team’s third goal.

Bahawalpur bounced back and struck two goals through M Uzair and Absar bin Rauf in the 50th and 53rd minutes, respectively, but that was too little and too late.

The Lahore-Sargodha semifinal turned out to be a tense clash after both the teams played a 1-1 draw during the stipulated time. Lahore’s goal was scored by skipper Hannan Shahid through a field effort in 11th minute. Sargodha responded after seven minute when Ibrar Arshad converted a penalty corner to level the score.

Strikers and goalkeepers of both the teams once again showed great resolve in the penalty shootout scoring three goals each for their teams. Shahzaib, M Rabiya and M Amar scored for Lahore. Shaheer, Ifrahim Manga, Ibrar Arshad netted three goals for Sargodha.

Then Lahore emerged as the winners in sudden death stage when Sargodha’s Shaheer sent the ball out of goalpost.