LAHORE - National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) defeated defending champions PIA 4-3 in a nail-biting final to clinch the 60th NBP National Hockey Championship title here at the Johar Hockey Stadium on Sunday. Earlier, Wapda beat Sui Southern Gas Company 5-4 to obtain the third position.
The final started at a slow pace as both the teams took some time to set the tempo of the match. After that, the crowd witnessed a series of attacks and counter attacks by both the teams. PIA took lead in the ninth minute through M Zubair who converted a penalty corner. Shafqat Rasool scored a field goal in the 22nd minute to give his team a 2-0 lead which remained till the end of the first half.
The bankers appeared in a different in the second half. Their forwards made some productive moves to electrify the crowd who enjoyed an exciting encounter. Dilber took control of the ball in the 43rd minute and scored the first goal for NBP. In the 65th minute of the play, Kashif Rasul scored the second goal for the bankers on a penalty corner.
After the end of both the halves, the result remained 2-2 and the match went into the penalty shoots’ stage which also ended into a draw. Finally, it reached to the nerve-breaking sudden death stage where the bankers controlled their nerves better than the airmen and their forward Ali Shan scored the winning goal amid jubilation of his team’s players and the crowd. Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was chief guest of the final who was introduced with the players before the start of the match.