RAWALPINDI - Huge upset was witnessed in the 1st Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Challenge Hockey Cup 2015, as one of the pre-tournament favorites, Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) bowed out of the race for a place in the semifinals, as they were held to 2-2 draw in their must-win match against Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) here at the Army Hockey Stadium on Monday.
In other matches, Army beat PAF 3-1 and Police drew 2-2 with Punjab. PHF president Chaudhry Akhtar Rasool, secretary Rana Mujahid along with national selector Musaddiq, chief selector Islahuddin Siddiqui, Asif Bajwa and others were also present on the occasion.
It was a do-or-die game for Wapda, who badly needed a win to stay in the hunt for a place in the last four. Having the services of world record holder Sohail Abbas, Olympians Tasawar Abbas, Khalid Bhatti and Waqas Sharif, Wapda were quite confident to carve out victory against SSGC, who had only national team player Shakeel Abbasi in their ranks. SSGC pressed hard Wapda as soon as the match started and only in the seventh minute, they managed to take a penalty corner, which was duly converted by Shakeel Abbasi on a rebound.
Forwards Zeeshan and Ali made a classic move in the 37th minute between short passes to enter the D where Yasir Shabbir neatly deflected the ball passed the goal post to put SSGC in driving seat. Wapda bounced back and earned a penalty corner in the 38th minute, with M Imran scoring the goal to reduce the deficit. SSGC, unnecessarily, went into the defensive, which provided Wapda to make further aggressive attacks and most of the game was played in the SSGC area. Waqas Sharif scored a field goal in the 43rd minute to level the score. Despite trying their level best to make further in roads, Wapda strikers failed to score any further and the match ended in 2-2 draw. Kamran MP and Haroon supervised the match.
Earlier, in the opening match, national team captain M Imran struck a wonderful hat-trick to guide Army (Seniors) to 3-1 victory against PAF. After sustaining early jolt, Army hardly faced any threat from PAF throughout the match. Army dominated the proceedings after conceding a goal and controlled the rolling ball most of the time which enabled their forwards to penetrate deep into their opponents' area. PAF forwards Adnan and Farhan launched an aggressive move in the first quarter earning a penalty corner in the 10th minute, which was beautifully struck by Mudassar. The goal, however, forced Army to reposition themselves. After that their forwards composed themselves and pressed the airmen hard amid belligerent moves and created opportunities for Muhammed Imran to score all three goals for Army.
In the 14th minute Immad Dar, M Rizwan and M Zeeshan earned the first penalty corner for Army, which Imran beautifully converted to level things at 1-1. Zeeshan, Jabbar and Habibur Rehman got another penalty corer in the 23rd minute, which Imran once again neatly converted. Muzamal ul Haq and Jabar's aggressive move in the 45th minute produced another penalty corner on which Imran completed his hat-trick, which was overall third hat-trick of the tournament. The airmen lacked in there passes which were intercepted, however, their goalkeeper saved a couple of certain goals. Haider Rasool and Moheyuddin supervised the match.
The third match was a tame draw between Punjab and Police. Police was leading till the last minute of the 4ht and last quarter but a 57th minute goal on a penalty corner enabled Punjab to draw the match. Police forwards impressed with their dribbling and dodging. Their ball control was far better than their opponents, Ayub and Faisal Shah performed brilliantly for Police, Punjab opened the account with an 8th minute goal by M Adnan which was leveled by Ayub in the 15th minute. Police took lead through a goal on penalty corner struck by Hassan Obaid in the 53d minute, which was equalized by Amir Ali in the 57th minute. Kamran Shareef and Anwar supervised the match.
Only two matches will be played today (Wednesday), as NBP will take on SSGC at 12pm in the first while PAF face Punjab in the second match.