Lahore  -  The Second Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) All-Pakistan Hockey Tournament, featuring eight of the top departmental sides of the country, will be held here at the National Hockey Stadium from October 1 to 7.

The competing teams are Wapda, National Bank of Pakistan, Sui Southern Gas Company, Sui Northern Gas Pipe Lines Ltd, Police, Port Qasim Authority, PAF and Pakistan Navy. The eight sides are divided into two pools. On the first four days, the pool matches will take place. After a rest day on Friday, the two semifinals will be played on Saturday with the final scheduled on October 7.

Speaking at a press conference here at National Hockey Stadium, Station Commander Navy Lahore Commodore Naimatullah thanked the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and Sports Board Punjab (SBP) for their cooperation. “Sports are very dear to Pakistan Navy. Presently, Pakistan’s national teams in hockey and cricket both have representation from the Navy. Rashid Mahmood is a regular in the national hockey team since 2010 while Fakhar Zaman is a part of the cricket squad.

“Hockey is our national game but unfortunately Pakistan hockey is on the decline for quite some time. In this regard, Navy is trying to make its own little contribution for the revival. The first CNS Hockey Tournament was held at Karachi in 2016. Now, we are privileged to have the second edition at world’s biggest hockey stadium. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi is a sports lover and he wishes the best to all the participating teams,” he added.

Tournament carries handsome prize money of Rs 500,000 for the winners, Rs 300,000 for the runners-up and Rs 200,000 for the third position holder. There are also individual prizes which include Rs 50,000 for the player of the tournament while the top scorer and the best goal keeper will get Rs 25,000 each.

For all this, Commodore Naimatullah expressed gratitude to the sponsors, who have supported Pakistan Navy for this tournament. The sponsors include PSO, HBL, Vivo Juice, KPT, National Bank of Pakistan, Netsol, Bahria University, Bahria Foundation, Berger Paints, Shezan Bakers, and Adam’s. He also thanked the media for turning up in a good number for the press conference and hoped that the tournament will get good coverage from both the print and electronic media.