KARACHI, Jan 27: Defending champions The City School PAF Chapter inched closer to retaining the title when they routed their sister concern, City School Gulshan Campus 39-20 in the pre-final of the SSB Inter-school basketball championship at PSB Coaching Centre on Thursday.

Umair was the main architect of his team's success scoring magnificent 18 points. Siraj 11 and Shabbir 10 were the two other players who completed their team's total. Noman and Wahab scored nine and seven respectively for losers.

The winning team received a pat on their back from regional sports coordinator of the institution, Intesar Haider, after the match.

The City School PAF Chapter is drawn to meet Happy Home School who whipped Foundation Public School 22-13 in the other semi-final.

Aqib and Waqar shone for winning outfit scoring nine and eight points respectively while Jahenzaib and Imad contributed six and five for losers.

Earlier, the Happy Home School and Foundation Public School teams were introduced to Dr. Abdul Basit, chairman, department of Health and Physical Sciences, Karachi, University.

The final between The City School PAF Chapter and Happy Home School will be played on Friday at 4.30pm. The final will be preceded by playoff for 3rd-4th position between The City School Gulshan Campus and Foundation Public School at 3.30pm.