Pakistan, Lahore: February 7, 2021, Lahore and Faisalabad won the honor of playing in the final of the first Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey Championship. Bahawalpur and Sargodha lost the semi-finals. Bahawalpur Division defeated Bahawalpur Division 3-2. In the second half, Bahawalpur Division played aggressively but could not win. In the second semi-final, Lahore Division defeated Sargodha Division 6-5 after a thrilling contest. It happened on sudden death, thrilling competitions were held in the semi-finals which reminded me of the past, all the teams worked hard, the final will be memorable, Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Olakh.
According to details, in the semi-finals of the first Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey Championship 2021 organized by Sports Board Punjab, the teams of Faisalabad Division and Lahore Division have reached the final after winning thrilling matches. General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Olakh said that the semi-finals saw thrilling matches which reminded the past, all the teams worked hard and played well, talented players have emerged in the championship, this talent. There is a national capital that will not be wasted, which will be taken forward so that the national hockey team becomes strong, the championship has given a lot of impetus to hockey, new players have been encouraged, the teams of Faisalabad and Lahore divisions have reached the final. Both the teams are very much alive. We hope that the final of the championship will be memorable. Chief Selector Pakistan Hockey Team and Olympian Manzoor Jr., Olympian Tauqeer Dar, Head Coach Pakistan Hockey Team Khawaja Junaid, Senior Sports Anchor Yahya Hussaini, President Punjab Hockey Association Khawaja Khawar, Secretary Lt Col (retd) Asif Naz Khokhar, Associate Secretary Punjab Hockey Association Rai Usman Akbar Kharal, Organizing Secretary and Director Sports Muhammad Hafeez Bhatti, Deputy Director Sports Chand Parveen, Deputy Director Rauf Bajwa and all Divisional Sports Officers were also present on the occasion.
The semi-finals of the first Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey Championship organized by Sports Board Punjab were played at the National Hockey Stadium on Saturday. The first semi-final was played between Faisalabad Division and Bahawalpur Division. Faisalabad Division scored the first three goals in the match. Strengthened their position on the match, there was a thrilling contest in the second half, Bahawalpur Division attacked Faisalabad Division and scored two goals but they could not manage to score the third goal, thus the first semi-final Faisalabad Division 3-2 Muhammad Sajid scored two goals and Moazzam scored one goal for Faisalabad Division while Absar Bin Rauf and Mohammad Uzair scored for Bahawalpur Division.
The second semi-final was played between Lahore Division and Sargodha Division. Both the teams played a great game and attacked each other. Abrar Arshad scored for Shahid and Sargodha, after which both the teams were given penalty shootouts in which the match ended in a draw with 3.3 goals. Ephraim Manga and Abrar Arshad scored, the match became more interesting with the penalty shootout being equalized after which the match was decided on sudden death in which Lahore Division won the semi-final 6-5. On behalf of Lahore Division Ammar, Captain Hanan Shahid and Mohammad Rabia Ephraim Manga and Abrar Arshad scored while Shaheer threw the ball out of the net.
