ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Air Force win the First CAS National Kabaddi Championship 2016 after thrashing Wapda 48-36 in the final played here at Jinnah Stadium, Pakistan Sports Complex Saturday.
Air Marshal Asad Lodhi, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force was the chief guest on the occasion. Director General Pakistan Sports Board Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, DDG Facilities Agha Amjedullah, Assistant Director hostels Malik Imtiaz Hussain, security in charge Captain (R) Malik Ashraf along with others were also present on the final. The most astonishing thing to note was the absence of Pakistan Kabaddi Federation’s officials absence from the presentation party as hosts of the event PAF failed to invite any official on the stage. When contacted Federation’s secretary Ranan Sarwar aand asked why he and other federation officials were missing from the presentation ceremony he simply replied it was PAF function. However, he received a souvenir from the chief guest. It was a mismanaged final ceremony and even third place match was also called off and Army and SNGPL shared third spot jointly.
The match started on electrifying pace, as both teams collected points on each attempt in the initial 10 minutes of play and it seemed that the final will go down to extra time. The PAF was simply enjoying overwhelming crowd support as airmen officials and other staff were also very much present to lift the morals of their team.
After 12 minutes, sensational display of defence was shown by the stopper Mansha Gujjar, who captured six Wapda players and added highly crucial points for his side, while Waqas stopped two Wapda players. It was a neck and neck battle as Wapda coach standing right behind their defence was urging his players to be more aggressive, but it was Mansha who completely outclassed Wapda with his sensational play and he was given standing ovation by the highly supportive crowd.
The PAF finished the first 20 minute, leading 23-21. As soon as the second half started, the PAF started to stretch their lead and the gap started to widen up. Waqas Butt, Obaid Ullah Kamboh were the outstanding attackers for the PAF and scored on each attempt while Waqar and skipper Shafiq Gujjar were instrumental for Wapda. Second half was simply one-way traffic as PAF managed to dictate terms. Wapda, who were outstanding against Army in the semi-finals and recorded highly upset victory, were just nailed down by the PAF defence.
PAF had scored 48 points, while Wapda could only score 36.
The chief guest awarded championship trophy and Rs 400,000 to winning team captain Irfan Mana, while runners up trophy and Rs 200,000 was handed over to losing team captain Shafiq. Lala Obaidullah and Waqas Jutt were declared best Raiders and were awarded Rs 25,000 cash while Waqas Rahim Gujjar was named as the best defender of the championship and given Rs 25,000 cash award.
The championship commenced on 28 November with 12 teams from all over Pakistan, including Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, KP, Islamabad, SNGPL, Police, Railway, Wapda, Army, PAF and HEC took part in the event.