LAHORE - Pakistan Wapda, Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Army won their matches in the league stage of the quarterfinals of the National Men’s Volleyball Championship at the POF Sports Complex on Thursday.

According to information made available here, Wapda defeated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3-0 (25, 12, 25-12, 25-18), PAF defeated Police 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-14), Navy beat POF 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-21) and Army beat Pakistan Juniors 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-18). The second leg of quarterfinals on today (Friday) will decide the four semifinalists.

Wapda had to do little hard work to tame their opponents in the first match. The boys from the KP lacked in skill and experience against the Wapda comprising international players. It was simply difficult for them to block hard smashes and pick strong serves neatly from their opponents. They lost first two games with identical margin but reduced the margin of defeat in the third game only after Wapda had grounded their best players.

The second quarterfinal was an encounter between aged but experienced Policemen and superbly fit Airmen, who outclassed their opponents with speed and stamina. Fahad and Dawood broke Police defence amid hard and accurate smashes while Ismail and Sheraz frustrated policemen with their effective blocking. However, in the second game, Kashif led Policemen’s fight back with his outstanding blocking and smashes but some wild serves of his colleagues cost them some useful points.

In the third match, hosts POF fought brilliantly against their more experienced opponents from Navy. Particularly, Yasir showed his class and earned some useful points for his team. But the hosts failed to stop aggression from Shujah and Razzaq, who found gaps to smash the ball. The POF fought hard in the last game and came close to win the set but lost valuable points amid their wrong serves.

Ali Haider, Murad Khan, Abdullah and Usman of Pakistan Juniors performed extremely well against experienced Army men in the last quarterfinal of the day. They made it hard for their opponents to earn points easily. The Juniors, under the guidance of Iranian coach Hamid Movhdi, served neatly, smashed hard and blocked effectively most of Army’s attacks. However, Army’s Haider proved to be the only difference between the two teams, who provided real entertainment to the spectators and won applauds from them throughout the match. Haider was marvelous throughout the match and rescued his team from difficult moments. He motivated his team to earn points and consolidate its position. Zaheer was another notable player for the winners, who added precious points with his perfect boosting and strong serves.

Today (Friday’s) quarterfinals: POF vs KPK, PAF vs Army, Wapda vs Navy and Pakistan Juniors vs Police.