COAS Hockey Cup: PIA, NBP make their way into final

Airliners defeat SSGC 4-1, while Bankers win 2-1 against Army.

KARACHI: PIA and NBP made their way into the final of the first Chief of the Army Staff Challenge Hockey Cup, winning their respective semi-final matches at the Army Hockey Stadium in Rawalpindi yesterday.

In the first match, PIA faced little resistance from SSGC as they outclassed them 4-1 in the first semi-final. Nohaiz Malik started the scoring with a sixth-minute goal to give PIA the lead, which Kashif Ali doubled in the 22nd minute.

Atif Mushtaq and Zubair Mehmood scored two more goals, in the 35th and 47th minutes, to put the tie beyond SSGC. Shakeel Abbasi then scored a consolation six minutes from time.

In the second semi-final, NBP fought hard in a nerve-wracking match to book their place in the final after defeating Army Seniors 2-1. The Bankers scored their first goal in the 11th minute of the match through Ali Shan’s field goal.

Then a superb flowing move resulted in Bilal Qadir beating the goalkeeper in the 29th minute to make it 2-0. Army skipper Muhammad Imran got one back in the 51st minute with a penalty corner but there was to be no comeback as NBP held on to reach the final.

The final between PIA and NBP will be played tomorrow, while Army and SSGC will fight it out for third place today.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2015.

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