Abbottabad book place in quarter-finals

Side progresses in National U16 Football Championship with 2-1 win.

KARACHI: Hosts Abbottabad qualified for the quarter-finals of the National Under-16 Football Championship after beating Peshawar Youth team 2-1 at the Kunj Stadium yesterday.

Home-team striker Shahbaz Khan scored the opening goal in the first minute of the match which was equalised by Peshawar’s Muhammad Rehman in the 25th.

However, Abbottabad got lucky as Peshawar’s Muhammad Waseem scored an own goal in the 72nd minute to seal the 2-1 win.

Elsewhere, Quetta began the tournament with a win in Group D, defeating Gilgit-Baltistan 1-0. Muhammad Kashif scored the winner in the 33rd minute of the match.

With the win, Quetta also qualified for the quarter-finals of the championship. They will face Sindh tomorrow in their last group match.

In today’s matches, Karachi Youth team will take on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in the deciding match for Group B, while Lahore Youth Team will play Balochistan in the Group C match.

According to a Pakistan Football Federation official, the championship has received a positive response from the players so far.

He said that four selectors were closely observing the performances of the junior footballers to shortlist names for the national under-16 team.

The talented players from the championship will represent the country at the Asian Football Confederation Under-16 Championship, which will take place in September in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2013.