NBP defend title with penalty shootout victory over WAPDA

Winning team captain says event was held with best facilities, in good conditions

KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan won the 2nd Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) All-Pakistan Hockey Tournament defeating WAPDA in an exciting final that was decided on a penalty shootout at the National Hockey Stadium (NHS) in Lahore.

All together eight top national teams competed for the title including WAPDA, NBP, SNGPL, SSGC, PN, PAF, Punjab Police and PQA.

NBP, the star-studded team, was able to defend the title courtesy experienced players who have been playing in the national senior and junior teams for years.

In the final match between the same finalists as last season, NBP dominated the game in the first half leading 3-1, but the scores were level at 4-4 before the full-time whistle blew.



For NBP Arslan Qadir, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Dilber Hussain and Abubakar scored one goal each, while Ajaz Ahmed, Muhammad Irfan Junior, Aleem Bilal, and Shajeeh Ahmed scored one goal each for WAPDA.

In the penalty shootout, after drawing the first five 2-2, NBP were able to score the goal in a sudden death penalty shootout to win the trophy.

Vice Admiral Kaleem Shaukat, Vice Chief of Naval Staff graced the occasion as chief guest of the closing ceremony who distributed trophies and medals among the winners.

The winners, NBP, received a cash prize of Rs500,000. The runners up WAPDA and third place SNGPL won Rs300,000 and Rs200,000, respectively.

Rashid Mahmood of Pakistan Navy was declared as the best player of the tournament and awarded Rs50,000. Aleem Bilal of WAPDA and Ali Umair of SNGPL were declared the best scorer and the best goalkeeper respectively and were awarded a cash prize of Rs25,000 each.

The winning team captain Arslan Qadir, while talking about the championship, told The Express Tribune that the championship was held with the best facilities and conditions. “We have been playing national tournaments but this was well organised. We are glad that we have won the championship with the help of a team effort,” he said.



“We were determined that we have to reach the final, but we planned game by game. We focused on the opponents of each game and worked on the strategies that ended in our favour,” he said. “The final of the tournament showed that the two teams there were well-deserving and in the end the best team won.”

The chief guest congratulated the winning teams and applauded the efforts put in by the Patron PN Hockey (Central), Punjab Sports Board (PSB), Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and sponsors.

He hoped that the tournament would contribute in raising the public interest in the national game. Vice Admiral Kaleem Shaukat also urged the public and private departments/ organizations to come forward and help in the revival of the national sport.