Rain spoils national U16 football championship

Three quarter-finals delayed; Balochistan through to last-four.

KARACHI:

Rain ruined the National U16 Football Championship with only one of the three quarter-finals contested yesterday. The development will affect at least two teams that would now be deprived of a rest day.

In the only other last-eight encounter possible, Balochistan beat Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on penalties 3-2 after both sides were locked at 1-1.

Balochistan’s Muhammad Asif scored the opening goal in the 18th minute before K-P’s Taimoor Ali equalised in the 55th.

Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) official and tournament director Rauf Bari said the postponement of the quarter-finals will take its toll on the junior players.

“The rain-delays have made it little difficult for us to hold all the matches on time,” Bari told The Express Tribune. “These are very young players and they get exhausted. Everyone needs a rest day but we can’t delay matches anymore.

“It’s a lesson for us that next time we need to hold the tournaments keeping the weather conditions and facilities in mind.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2013.