Wapda, NBP and SSGC in U-21 hockey semis
LAHORE, Jan 18: Wapda, National Bank of Pakistan, Punjab Colours and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) qualified for the semi-finals of the National U-21 Hockey Championships as the pool matches ended at the National Hockey Stadium here on Wednesday.
Two-goal Mohammad Suleman helped Wapda beat Punjab Whites 3-1 in their last match. Suleman drew the first blood in the 15th minute scoring a field goal and then he doubled the lead five minutes later with another field attempt. On offensive, Wapda surged ahead 3-0 when Tassawar Hussain hit a field goal in the dying minute of the first half. After the resumption, Jawad Riaz (70th) converted a penalty-corner but only to reduce the lead for Punjab Whites.
Two-goal Mohammad Kashif Javed helped National Bank of Pakistan beat PHF Academy 2-0. He cashed in on penalty-corner in the 22nd and 45th minutes.
Punjab Colours carved out 2-0 win against Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). However, both entered the last four.
Their skipper Muhammad Mushtaq (47th) and Abdullah Babar (70th) were the scorers.
Army also outplayed Railways 3-1, thanks to two-goal Sahroaz Ghori, in a match, which has no bearing on the semi-finals line-up.
Railways took the lead first when Khurram Sarwar converted a short-corner in the 20th minute. But the lead remained in tact for just five minutes as Army restored the parity through their captain Fawad Ahmed, who converted a penalty-corner in the 25th minute, as the first half ended at 1-1 all. In the second half, the soldiers remained on front seat due to Sahroaz's strike, who banged home in the 58th and 63rd minutes after making solo field efforts.
Semi-finals scheudle: 1st Semi-final: Wapda vs SSGC.
2nd Semi-final: NBP vs Punjab (C).