Army crush KESC... in hockey

KARACHI: Mohammad Rizwan scored a brilliant hat-trick and played a pivotal role in Pakistan Army’s impressive 8-0 win over Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) in the 57th National Hockey Championship on Friday at the Hockey Club of Pakistan in Karachi.

Rizwan scored his goals in the 4th, 62nd and 65th minute of the match. Waqas Zafar, Shahid Saleem, Khalil Ahmed, Mohammad Safeer and Waqas (Junior) scored a goal each in the devastating triumph over KESC.

Azlan rescues HBL

Meanwhile, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) came from behind to record a thrilling 2-1 win over Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The airliners took the lead with Mahmood Ali scoring in the 22nd minute. However, the HBL captain Adeel Hussain led from the front and equalised in the 30th minute. The match was locked at 1-1 at the end of the first half. HBL’s Ali Azlan found space in PIA’s danger area and sent a tightly-received ball straight into the back of the net to produce the decisive goal of the match in the 51st minute. With the win, HBL has now accumulated 16 points to equal PIA in the standings. Wapda currently head the points table with 21 points followed by NBP at 18 points.

PAF draw against Navy

In another match of the championship, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) made a strong comeback in the last ten minutes to draw the match after conceding a two-goal lead against Pakistan Navy. Muhammad Sabir scored in the fourth minute to give Navy the early lead and Muhammad Imran doubled it for the sailors in the 20th minute. However, in the 60th minute, Navy was penalised and the ensuing penalty stroke was converted by PAF’s Muhammad Hafeez to reduce the arrears. Just four minutes later, Shahbaz squeezed into the Navy defense to equalise and confirm the remarkable comeback.