U20 National Hockey Championship: NBP, WAPDA set up final clash

Both sides were finalists in last year’s edition, which NBP won

KARACHI: NBP and Wapda progressed to the U20 National Hockey Championship final in a replay of last year’s decider after convincingly defeating their respective rivals in their semi-final at the Hockey Club of Pakistan in Karachi on Thursday.

NBP outclassed SSGC 4-0 as goals from skipper Atiq Arshad, Muhammad Naveed, Azfar Yaqoob and Mubashir Ali ended the contest in favour of the defending champions.

Meanwhile, in the second semi-final, Wapda thrashed Punjab-A 5-0 as Shahbaz scored a hat-trick, while Bilal Mehmood and Sohail Anjum added one goal each to conclude the rout.

Tournament director Anjum Saeed said that the young players have showcased brilliant skills, which evidence the bright future of hockey in Pakistan. “The semi-finals should have been more competitive, but sadly they turned out to be one-sided. We hope to see a good final between the top two teams,” he added.

The final would be played on Friday, while Punjab-A and SSGC will face each other in the third place play-off.

 

 

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