High-flying PIA soar into final

To take on Wapda today for the hockey championship title.

KARACHI: PIA and Wapda registered identical victories over Army and SSGC to seal a place in the final of the National Hockey Championship being held at the Hockey Club of Pakistan, Karachi.

In the first semi-final, PIA, who finished second in the table after the round matches, dominated proceedings against Army with an apt display of attack and defence. Mohammad Irfan opened the scoring in the 14th minute but Mohammad Rizwan converted a penalty corner in the 46th minute to level the scores.

However, Shafqat Rasool’s brilliance in the 59th-minute solo effort gave PIA the decisive goal which sealed their berth in the final.

Meanwhile, Wapda, who topped the table with 22 points, went behind in the 16th minute as Shabbir Ahmed struck for SSGC. Wapda hit back immediately as Mohammad Imran equalised in the next minute only to take the lead three minutes later through Aleem Bilal whose goal took his side into the final.

SSGC will take on Army for the third-place playoff before the final today.

Pakistan to train in Europe before Olympics

Meanwhile, Pakistan Hockey Federation Secretary Asif Bajwa said that the squad will train in Europe before the Olympics.

“We’re putting in a lot of effort for the training before the Olympics,” said Bajwa. “We’ll send the team to Europe a  few weeks before the mega event.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2012.