KARACHI, Jan 29 Asif Michael slotted home a last-gasp leveller to help Larkana reach the semi-finals of the National Hockey Championship regional qualifying round after a 1-1 draw with Quetta at the Hockey Club of Pakistan on Tuesday.

Larkana, who also have qualified for the main round in Peshawar, cruised ahead on better goal average as they needed only a draw to make it to the final event.

Both the teams remained goalless till the 24th minute when Quetta broke the ice with a penalty corner conversion by Mohammad Faisal.

Quetta enjoyed domination through the second half as they came close to scoring several times but missed the target despite having perfect opportunities.

Quetta's Jamal had ample time to score in the 42nd minute but his ineffective reverse flick hit the side-netting following a perfect pass from the right side. Abdul Rauf sent a blistering cross across the face of the goal only to see his effort go in vain as Quetta attackers failed to connect in the 58th minute.

Quetta were in trouble when they were reduced to 10 players as umpire Fareed gave him temporary marching orders in the 60th minute, while Larkana were also left to play with 10 when Zahid was yellow-carded almost simultaneously.

Rough play and fouls again resulted in yellow cards to Himat Ali of Larkana and Mohammad Amir of Quetta in the 65th and 66th minutes.

But Quetta were still prevailing as Jamal once again threatened Larkana with yet another reverse hit from the top of the circle which was timely saved by Larkana goalkeeper Fayyaz Ahmad three minutes before time.

Quetta was in serious trouble when they lost their captain Kamran Sabir who collapsed and fell unconscious after a serious injury. The skipper had to be carried away by his team officials and fans for medical treatment.

While Quetta missed their skipper and were disturbed over the injury, Larkana changed gear and levelled through an Asif reverse hit just a minute before time.

Hyderabad also reached last four and qualified for the main round with a 6-0 victory over Loralai.

Hyderabad started with an Adil Rasheed strike in the 14th minute before Shahid Waseem converted a short corner two minutes later.

Saleem Junior was on target for the third in the 23rd minute, while Irfan came into action two minutes into second session and Shahid added the fifth two minutes later.

Qamar Waheed completed the tally with a 65th-minute penalty corner conversion.

In a match having no significance, Makran edged past Zhob 1-0 thanks to a 68th-minute match-winner by Sadat Ali.

Karachi Colours, who have already reached semi-finals, thrashed Sibi 14-0 courtesy two brilliant hat tricks by Arif Hanif.

Arif gave the local outfit a flying start with goals in the second, sixth and 17th minutes before Aun Ali found the target two inutes later.

It was followed by a Bilal Yaqoob goal in the 24th minute and another Aun Ali strike two minutes later. Arif slotted home twice before break and completed his second treble in the 44th minute.

Yasir Ghafoor slammed home in the 50th minute, Arif got his seventh, while Mohammad Atif (60th and 67th minutes), and Noman Wajid (62nd minute) were other scorers.

Wednesday's fixtures (semi-finals)

Karachi Whites v Hyderabad at 2.00pm; Larkana v Karachi Colours at 3.30pm.