Abbas’ brace hands WAPDA victory

Sohail Abbas’ brace guided Wapda to a 2-1 victory against HBL in the 58th National Hockey Championship underway at the Faisalabad Hockey Stadium.

Abbas gave the defending champions a lead in the first interval after his goal in the 22nd minute.

HBL’s Shahbaz levelled the score in the 44th minute, after which Abbas scored his second by converting a penalty in the 65th minute.

Meanwhile, SSGC defeated Pakistan Army 2-1 after they dug deep in the second half to recover from Mohammad Safeer’s 12th-minute goal. Arsalan Haider Sherazi struck in the 58th minute before Abbas Haider scored off a penalty two minutes later.

Pakistan Navy cruised to an easy win against Steel Mills 2-0 after Rao Nadeem took two goals in the 29th and the 66th minutes, while PIA claimed a 6-4 victory against PTV. In another match, NBP beat Port Qasim 3-1.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2011.