ISLAMABAD - Five-goal Zahid Ullah helped Wapda Whites demolish Balochistan 8-1 in the 65th Muhammad Noor Khan National Hockey Championship 2019 match at Abdul Sattar Edhi National Hockey Stadium, Karachi on Sunday.
In other matches of the day, PAF thrashed Islamabad 6-0, NBP outclassed KP 3-0, SSGC hammered Sindh 9-1 and Army Whites edged Punjab 4-2. In the first match of the day, it was sensational performance by Zahid Ullah, which helped Wapda Whites demolish Balochistan. He scored fabulous five goals while Adnan Babar, Rana Waheed and Suleman contributed with one one goal apiece while for Balochistan, Munawwar struck the only goal.
Mushtaq was hero for the airmen, as he helped PAF rout Islamabad 6-0. Mushtaq scored a beautiful hat-trick while Mudassar, Mohsin and Akhlaq hit a goal each for the winners. In the third match, Arsalan Qadir scored a brace to help NBP thump KP 3-0. Junaid Manzoor scored the third one for the winners. SSGC thrashed Sindh 9-1 with Rana Sohail and Bashir Lai hammered a hat-trick each while Adeel, Shaan and Rizwan struck a goal each for the winners. For Sindh, Sardar Chandio scored the lone goal. In the fifth and last match of the day, once again Punjab boys showed tremendous fighting skills and kept might Army Whites at bay and fought their hearts out before losing 2-4. Haseeb provided 1-0 lead to Punjab, which remained intact till the first quarter. Army bounced back in the second quarter as Aamir Sohail smashed in an equalizer to level the score 1-1.
Aamir scored his and team’s second goal to give Army 2-1 lead and soon it was 3-1, as M Ihsan scored the third goal for Army. M Arsalan reduced the deficit to 2-3, which remained intact till the final whistle and Army emerged as winners. Nepotism and liking/disliking in Punjab team is at peak, that’s why they lost the must-win match.
PHF President and Punjab Hockey Association Secretary Col Asif Naz should conduct an inquiry and provide justice to the deserving players, who are forced to either sit out in the crucial must-win match, or their role is minimized. Hockey is already at its lowest ebb and if talent is continued to be denied its due right, then who is going to send their kids to play this game.
