Mari Petroleum Azadi Hockey Cup: WAPDA, Navy, National Bank and Air Force teams have qualified for the semi-finals, semi-finals will be played tomorrow.
The semi-final line-up of Mari Petroleum Azadi Hockey Cup has been completed under the supervision of Pakistan Hockey Federation under Mari Petroleum. WAPDA and Navy from Pool A and National Bank and Air Force teams from Pool B advanced to the semi-finals. The semi-final matches of the ongoing event with the most valuable prizes in the history of the country will be played tomorrow at Mari Astroturf Hockey Stadium Ayub Park Rawalpindi under the auspices of Army Heritage Foundation from August 8 to 15.
Today, the first match was played between National Bank and Punjab which was won by the experienced team of National Bank by six goals to two. Shaun Irshad scored two goals for National Bank, Abu Bakar Tariq, Abu Dharr Jr., Mohammad Naveed and Mohammad Atiq scored while Zain Ijaz and Arsal scored for Punjab. Man of the match was Shaun Irshad (National Bank).
The second match was played between the teams of Pakistan Air Force and Sui Southern Gas. In a brilliant match, the match between Sui Southern Gas and PAF ended in a 1-1 draw. Qualified for the finals. Zaheer Hussain scored a field goal for Sui Southern Gas in the fourth minute of the match. M Baqir scored a field goal for PAF in the 31st minute
A thrilling match was played between Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy which after a fierce contest Navy won 2-4 and qualified for the semi-finals. Akbar Ali, Asad Aziz, Zulqarnain and Hamad Ali scored goals for the Navy while Shahid Ali scored two goals for the Pakistan Army. The special guest of the match was Brigadier Zaheer Akhtar, Director, Army Sports Directorate. The distinguished guest was introduced to the players and officials. The Man of the Match award was given to Akbar Ali (Navy).
