The National Bank team named champion of Mari Petroleum Azadi Hockey Cup, WAPDA defeated in Penalty Shootouts. Federal Minister for Sports Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr. Fehmida Mirza graced the occasion while President PHF Brigadier (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, CEO Mari Petroleum Faheem Haider, Lieutenant General (R) Ashfaq Nadeem, Major General (R) Asghar Nawaz, Secretary-General PHF Asif Bajwa, Director General Pakistan Sports Board Col (R) Muhammad Asif Zaman were present on the occasion as special guests.
According to the details, under the auspices of Mari Petroleum Sports Department and under the supervision of Pakistan Hockey Federation, the champion of the first Mari Petroleum Azadi Hockey Cup came out to be National Bank who defeated Pakistan WAPDA in penalty shootouts.
The match started with a fast game. The two front-line teams of the Pakistan Hockey Federation launched a series of attacks to overtake each other. The finalists comprising most of the players of Pakistan’s senior and junior national hockey teams entertained the spectators with their excellent performance. Rana Waheed scored a field goal for Pakistan WAPDA in the 9th minute of the game to give WAPDA a one-goal lead. In the 15th minute of the match, the National Bank team made a brilliant comeback and captain WAPDA finished the match by scoring a goal on the penalty corner. Junaid Manzoor scored a field goal in the 36th minute of the game to strengthen the lead of National Bank. In the 44th minute of the match, Ijaz Ahmed ended the National Bank’s practice by scoring a goal and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Aleem Usman and Salman Razzaq of WAPDA team managed to score a goal in the penalty shootout stage while Tauseeq Arshad, Ejaz Ahmed and Rana Waheed failed to score and led to the defeat of the team. Mohammad Dilbar and Ahmed Nadeem scored successful penalty shootouts while Arsalan Qadir and Amir Ali failed to score. The National Bank’s penalty shootout score was 2-3 and the overall score was 4-5 and the National Bank Hockey Team was declared the winner of the first Mari Petroleum Azadi Hockey Cup 2021.
The match was supervised by umpires Sohail Akram Janjua and Haroon Rashid while Asad Abbas was the reserve umpire. Murtaza Bhatti, Dr. SA Majid, Rafiq Khan, Shahid Gul, Ikram Ahq, Aslam Shah and Javed Sadiq performed the duties of judges in this match while Hamza Tufail performed his duties as a technical officer. Tournament Director Legend Olympian Hanif Khan, Assistant Tournament Directors Mohammad Shafiq Bhatti and Mohammad Yaseen, Umpires Manager Rashid Mahmood Butt and Assistant Umpires Manager Dilawar Bhatti performed their duties.
Mari Petroleum awarded the biggest prizes in the history of Pakistan Hockey Domestic Events. Each player of the final winning team National Bank was given 100cc motorcycles and runner-up team WAPDA was given 70cc motorcycles for each player.
The best scorer of the event was Rizwan Ali. The best goalkeeper was Muhammad Iqbal, the best umpire was Sohail Janjua and the best technical official was Hamza Tufail. National Bank captain Abu Bakar Tariq Mahmood was declared the man of the match in the final.
President of Pakistan Hockey Federation Brigadier (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar presented a cash award of Rs. One thousand rupees (cash award). A total of 16 Man of the Match awards were given at the event.
The Chief Guest of the Final Ceremony was Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Federal Minister for Sports, Inter-Provincial Coordination. Major General (R) Asghar Nawaz, Secretary General PHF Asif Bajwa, Director General Pakistan Sports Board Col. (R) Muhammad Asif Zaman, Chairman National Hockey Selection Committee Olympian Manzoor Jr., Member National Hockey Selection Committee Olympian Khalid Hameed, Head Coach National Hockey Team Olympian Khawaja Junaid participated in the closing ceremony.
Distinguished guests distributed prizes among the players and on behalf of President Pakistan Hockey Federation Brigadier (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, Federal Minister for Sports Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr. Fehmida Mirza, CEO Mari Petroleum Fahim Haider, Lt. Gen. (R) Ashfaq Nadeem and DG Pakistan Sports Board Col. R. Muhammad Asif Zaman were presented with souvenirs.
