Railways clinch Gold Cup Women's Hockey title

LAHORE - Punjab took Railways to full length before going down in the final of the Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Gold Cup Women's Hockey Tournament here at the National Hockey Stadium on Wednesday. After playing a one-all drawn final, the two teams were locked into penalty shoot out and Railways proved superior in that stage. Hina Kanwal opened the score for Railways in the 22nd minute but two minutes later Amna Mir leveled the score from Punjab. Both the goals were scored through penalty corners. That stalemate took the match into penalty shoot out that ended in Railways favour. In the third position match, Balochistan edged ahead of Police 2-1 in yet another tight competition. Both the winner team goals were scored by Tahira in the 9th and 47th minutes while Shamshad reduced the margin from Police in the 13th minute. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman was the chief guest of the match. She gave away the prizes amongst the players. The winner team Railways got Rs 20,000 while the runners-up team Punjab got Rs 15,000 and the third position holder team Balochistan got Rs 10,000 cash awards. Hina Kanwal of Railways got top scorer trophy, Nain Tara of Sindh was declared the best player of the tournament, Muhammad Mushtaq of Railways got best coach trophy and NWFP team got fair play trophy. Speaking on the occasion, Sherry Rehman said that with the dedicated efforts of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, the lost glories would return to the country. "The grooming of the youngsters would help being back the glorious past of hockey," she added. "The game is in a rebuilding phase and once it was achieved successfully. Pkaistan would get back its past status in the game. "Pakistan ruled international hockey for years in the past by winning all the major titles at stake and now efforts are being made to ensure a bright future of the game", she added. Sherry Rehman said holding of Benazir Bhutto Women Hockey Tournament was a best way to pay tribute to late great leader of Pakistan. She noted that PHF has taken a number of drastic steps to revive the game and its women wing is giving top priority to popularise hockey among women by having domestic tournaments besides ensuring the participation of teams abroad to expose players to high profile hockey. Later she gave away the trophies and prizes to the winning teams. Results Final Railways vs. Punjab 6-5 Final Score (Penalty Strokes) 1-1 Full Time 1-1 Half Time Railways: Hina Kanwal 22nd minute (PC). Ayesha Bashir, Hina Kanwal, Shahida Raza (PS). Railways got four penalty corners. Punjab: Amna Mir 24th minute (PC). Nazia Rehmat, Ishrat Abbas, Asma (PS). Punjab got six penalty corners. Third position match Balochistan beat Police 2-1 Full Time 1-1 Half Time Balochistan: Tahira 9th, 47th minute (FG).Balochistan got one penalty corner. Police: Shamshad 13th minute (FG). Police got three penalty corners.

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