Abbas’ treble guides Wapda to victory in hockey
Atlas, Mehboob cruise to quarter-finals in the National Games.
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI:
The 31st edition of the National Games continued with Wapda defeating Pakistan Air Force (Paf) 4-2 and Punjab overpowering Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 5-1 in the hockey event.
Sohail Abbas scored a hat-trick for Wapda after converting three penalty corners, while Ahmad Rashid scored the fourth goal. Asad and Said Shah replied for Paf in the second half but the four-goal deficit proved too much.
Penalty-corner specialist Abbas said that he was using the event to gain valuable practice before the National Hockey Championship in January. “It’s a great opportunity to practice before the event, so I’m taking this tournament as training,” Abbas told The Express Tribune.
“The level of competition is good, and of course the Pakistan Hockey Federation has fought for this event to happen, but as a player my focus would be to win the national championship with Wapda.”
Meanwhile, Tauseeq Haider also scored a hat-trick for Punjab while Abdul Qadir and Arsalan scored a goal each. Afsar reduced the margin in the dying moments for KP.
In the third match, Pakistan Army beat Pakistan Navy 2-1.
Squash
Wapda did well in the squash event as well as Aamir Atlas and Farhan Mehboob cruised into the quarter-finals. Aamir defeated Punjab’s Hamza Bukhari 11-5, 11-6, 11-13, 9-11, 11-5 while Farhan beat Aurangzeb Mehmand 11-3, 13-11, 11-7.
Meanwhile, Manzoor Zaman of KP outplayed Sindh’s Kashif Khan 11-2, 11-6, 11-5 and Paf’s Farhan Zaman overcame Balochistan’s Murtaza 11-3, 16-14, 11-9.
Football
Navy clobbered Pakistan Railways 3-1, while Paf drew 1-1 with KP. Asif Bakhsh scored the first goal in the eighth minute for Navy before completing a brace in the 31st. Rizwan Ahmed replied for Railways in the second half but Sajjad Ahmed sealed Navy’s victory by firing his first goal.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Zeeshan of Paf opened the scoring in the 18th minute against KP. Muhammad Zia levelled the score in the 83rd minute.
Weightlifting
Wapda’s weightlifters dominated the event when Abdullah Ghafoor bagged the gold medal in the 66-kilogramme event as Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) Imran Ismail secured silver. Usman Akbar secured another gold for Wapda in the 62-kilogramme category and Railways’ Farooq took silver.
Boxing
Navy’s Samiullah cruised into the second round of the 66-kilograme event as he knocked out Railway’s Mohammad Raza in the third round.
In other matches, PAF’s Abdul Waheed and Navy’s Mohammad Nisar progressed in the second round of the 49-kilogramme event, while Army’s Jamal and Navy’s Asif Kachhi won the 52-kilograme event. Adnan Hussain beat HEC’s Asadullah 11-7 in the 60-kilogramme event.
Netball
Wapda defeated Punjab 31-23 and Army defeated KP by 42-21 in the second match. Police and Sindh also secured victories against their respective rivals in the women’s event. Police defeated Balochistan 30-0, while Sindh outclassed KP 22-6.
Meanwhile, Punjab won their first handball match of the tournament. The victors took a 59-25 win against KP.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2010.
The 31st edition of the National Games continued with Wapda defeating Pakistan Air Force (Paf) 4-2 and Punjab overpowering Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 5-1 in the hockey event.
Sohail Abbas scored a hat-trick for Wapda after converting three penalty corners, while Ahmad Rashid scored the fourth goal. Asad and Said Shah replied for Paf in the second half but the four-goal deficit proved too much.
Penalty-corner specialist Abbas said that he was using the event to gain valuable practice before the National Hockey Championship in January. “It’s a great opportunity to practice before the event, so I’m taking this tournament as training,” Abbas told The Express Tribune.
“The level of competition is good, and of course the Pakistan Hockey Federation has fought for this event to happen, but as a player my focus would be to win the national championship with Wapda.”
Meanwhile, Tauseeq Haider also scored a hat-trick for Punjab while Abdul Qadir and Arsalan scored a goal each. Afsar reduced the margin in the dying moments for KP.
In the third match, Pakistan Army beat Pakistan Navy 2-1.
Squash
Wapda did well in the squash event as well as Aamir Atlas and Farhan Mehboob cruised into the quarter-finals. Aamir defeated Punjab’s Hamza Bukhari 11-5, 11-6, 11-13, 9-11, 11-5 while Farhan beat Aurangzeb Mehmand 11-3, 13-11, 11-7.
Meanwhile, Manzoor Zaman of KP outplayed Sindh’s Kashif Khan 11-2, 11-6, 11-5 and Paf’s Farhan Zaman overcame Balochistan’s Murtaza 11-3, 16-14, 11-9.
Football
Navy clobbered Pakistan Railways 3-1, while Paf drew 1-1 with KP. Asif Bakhsh scored the first goal in the eighth minute for Navy before completing a brace in the 31st. Rizwan Ahmed replied for Railways in the second half but Sajjad Ahmed sealed Navy’s victory by firing his first goal.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Zeeshan of Paf opened the scoring in the 18th minute against KP. Muhammad Zia levelled the score in the 83rd minute.
Weightlifting
Wapda’s weightlifters dominated the event when Abdullah Ghafoor bagged the gold medal in the 66-kilogramme event as Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) Imran Ismail secured silver. Usman Akbar secured another gold for Wapda in the 62-kilogramme category and Railways’ Farooq took silver.
Boxing
Navy’s Samiullah cruised into the second round of the 66-kilograme event as he knocked out Railway’s Mohammad Raza in the third round.
In other matches, PAF’s Abdul Waheed and Navy’s Mohammad Nisar progressed in the second round of the 49-kilogramme event, while Army’s Jamal and Navy’s Asif Kachhi won the 52-kilograme event. Adnan Hussain beat HEC’s Asadullah 11-7 in the 60-kilogramme event.
Netball
Wapda defeated Punjab 31-23 and Army defeated KP by 42-21 in the second match. Police and Sindh also secured victories against their respective rivals in the women’s event. Police defeated Balochistan 30-0, while Sindh outclassed KP 22-6.
Meanwhile, Punjab won their first handball match of the tournament. The victors took a 59-25 win against KP.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2010.