LAHORE, Dec 31: Defending champions Toba Tek Singh and Bahawalpur are to clash in the final of the Punjab under-17 boys Inter-district hockey championship to be played on Sunday.

In the semifinals on Saturday two goals by Muhammad Irfan enabled the reigning champions to carve out a 3-2 win against a competitive Vehari, while in the second semifinal Bahawalpur edged out Sargodha 6-4 in penalty shootout after the teams finished 2-2 in the regulation time.

Vehari were on the offensive from the start and got their first penalty-corner in the fourth minute which was wasted by Irfan Ali due to a feeble push.

The losers again wasted the second short-corner in the 18th minute when they tried to score indirectly.

Toba Tek Singh made their presence felt with an attacking game and earned three penalty-corners in a row in the 19th, 20th and the 21st minute but missed out on all of them.

Vehari finally drew first blood in the 26th minute when Muhammad Shahbaz, who scored both goals, converted the third short-corner with a powerful push, leaving goalkeeper Mazhar and two defenders guessing.

Three minutes later, Toba Tek Singh scored the equalizer (1-1) when Irfan scored his first goal capitalising on the fourth short-corner. The 1-1 score remained intact till the first half.

In the second half, Toba Tek Singh played like real champions. Had Vehari’s goalkeeper Mohammad Azeem not saved four sitters the lead of Toba Tek Singh could have increased considerably.

The winners went ahead for the first time 2-1 when Irfan slammed in his second goal, converting the sixth short-corner in the 54th minute. Six minutes later, they surged further ahead 3-1 when Mohammad Shahbaz scored a goal through seventh penalty-corner on an indirect attempt.

Vehari could only reduce the margin by scoring in the 66th minute through Mohammad Shahbaz, who converted the sixth penalty-corner.

Bahawalpur, who turned out a dark horse in the championship came from behind twice to hold Sargodha to a 2-2 draw till the final whistle to play an extra half of 15 minutes which also failed to produce results leaving the decider on five penalty-strokes.

Bahawalpur cashed in on four while Sargodha only two.

Both teams had scored on the first two penalty-strokes, Bahawalpur converting through Umer and Khurram while Sargodha through Rashid and Kamran.

Rashid for Bahawalpur and Muhammad Fayyaz for Sargodha missed their penalty strokes.

Bahawalpur finally claimed victory when Shahbaz and Farman were on target, off the fourth and the fifth penalty-strokes but Bilal and Aamer missed for Sargodha.

Earlier, Sargodha took the lead first in the 2nd minute when Muhammad Fayyaz, who scored both goals, struck his first through a field attempt. Bahawalpur restored the parity in the 11th minute through Shahbaz Ahmed, who also scored a field goal.

Sargodha moved ahead 2-1, two minutes before the half-time as Fayyaz banged home his second field goal. After the resumption, Bahawalpur put up constant pressure on Sargodha and finally earned the equalizer in the 53rd minute as Umar Bhutta struck a field goal.

The final will be played on Sunday. Earlier, Vehari and Sargodha will play for third position.