LAHORE, Feb 8: A 59th-minute equaliser by international Dilawar Hussain helped Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) retain the title after playing a 1-1 draw against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in the last league encounter of the 56th National Hockey Championship’s final round at the National Hockey Stadium on Sunday.

The champions in need of at least a draw in their last match lifted the trophy on a +22 goal difference against NBP’s goal difference of +14. Both teams had 22 points each in their nine outings. In fact, PIA’s overwhelming victory of 9-1 over Punjab earlier gave them an edge.

The bankers must be cursing themselves for the defeat, as PIA took advantage of their rival’s errors. NBP dominated the proceedings as far as the moves were concerned.

Both teams played a defensive game in the first half of play with unimpressive attacks. The two teams reached halftime without ticking the scoreboard.

But the second session saw both throwing caution to the winds. The bankers were more anxious for a goal and their efforts bore fruit soon. NBP broke the ice in the 41st minute when international Mohammad Atiq converted the second short-corner by dodging goalkeeper Nasir Ahmad and the other defenders in the cage.

But then PIA too launched some good attacks. Still their strikers faced a rock wall as it wasn’t that easy to break through NBP defence. PIA, however, got their breakthrough in the 59th minute. The equaliser was scored by their captain Dilawar Hussain through a penalty-corner. NBP suffered another big loss when their international Haseem Khan missed a golden opportunity in the 67th minute. After receiving a fine pass at the 25-yard line, he sent the ball well off the left pole. PIA got their second penalty-corner soon after but ended up wasting it. Still they were happy with the draw as it enabled them to lift the trophy.

Earlier, penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas fired all three goals to help Wapda earn third place by beating Army 3-0.

The win took Wapda’s points tally to 19. Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) with 18 points were expecting third place but came fourth instead.

Sohail, declared the championship’s top scorer with 16 goals, opened their account in the 12th minute to double the lead in the 18th. Wapda had made it 3-0 when Sohail cashed in on another short-corner in the 32nd minute. There were no goals scored in the second half.

In the other matches, Navy defeated Port Qasim 4-3 after a well-contested match. Port Qasim led the first half 3-1 but Navy stormed in the second session of play to turn the tables on their rivals.

Falak Zaman (24th and 38th mins), Rao Nadeem (42nd and 50th mins) were the scorers for the winners. Wasif Raza (12th min), Mohsin (28th min), Javed Mazhar (33rd min) reduced the margin for the losing side.

Punjab chalked up a 4-2 win against Railways after leading by 2-0 at halftime.

Rizwan Butt (fifth min), Imtiaz Panu (27th min), Gohar Ali (60th min), Ali Raza (66th min) were the scorers for Punjab. Kashif Idrees (48th min) and Khurram Shahzad (63rd min) reduced the margin for Railways.

Ehsanullah of PIA was declared best player of the event. Nasir Ahmad (PIA) was the best goal-keeper. The Fair Play Trophy went to Punjab. Meanwhile, Pakistan Air Force (PAF), with 20 points, lifted the tray championship trophy on better goal average than Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC). Both had 20 points but PAF had a +23 goal difference against KESC’s +15. Pakistan Steel Mills with 18 points and Police with 16 points earned the third and fourth spots, respectively.