9-a-Side Tournament: WAPDA down PIA to clinch Pakistan Cup

Register emphatic 4-2 win in final; bag Rs2 million

KARACHI: In the inaugural Pakistan Cup 9-a-Side Hockey Tournament, Wapda defeated PIA 4-2 in the final to lift the trophy at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium in Karachi yesterday.

Wapda received a prize money of Rs2 million, while PIA won Rs1 million and SSGC and NBP shared the third-place prize amounting to Rs500,000.

In an exciting encounter, Wapda took the lead in the 12th minute with Ijaz scoring a field goal, however, the winners couldn’t hold on to the lead as PIA’s Haseem Khan equalised in the next minute singlehandedly.



Tasawar Abbas scored the second goal to take back the lead before the end of the first half. After the break, Wapda’s Muhammad Irfan scored a third goal in the 30th minute to take the lead to 3-1.

PIA captain Muhammad Irfan Sr then found the net to make it 3-2 but Abbas ended all hopes of a PIA comeback when he netted the winner.



Talking about the outcome of the tournament, director domestic and development Olympian Naveed Alam said: “The technical moves which we had lost in the past years were seen during this tournament, along with the players getting their confidence back.”

Tournament director Olympian Mansoor Ahmed, meanwhile, hailed the positive impact the tournament had on the players. “This event had a positive impact on the players. The starting matches were not very balanced, but by the last four matches, the players got settled to play better and so competitive matches were seen.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2016.

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