ISLAMABAD - Majestic Army taught hockey lesson to Pakistan Police by thrashing them 16-0 in 65th Muhammad Noor Khan National Hockey Championship 2019 match at Abdul Sattar Edhi National Hockey Stadium, Karachi on Monday.

Four-star Safeer was the architect of Army’s drubbing of Police as he scored four goals and was also involved in four other goals. Army started the first half on a very powerful note and put Police defence under sword, but some poor finishing denied Army of scoring more goals and they could score in the first 15 minutes.

Same was the case in the second quarter, as Army fired in four more goals while the third quarter saw the winning side netting five goals and in the fourth and last quarter, Army managed to put two more goals. Besides Safeer’s four goals, Awais Zahid, M Umar and M Rizwan contributed with two goals each while M Afzal, M Zeeshan and Amjed Lai hit one goal apiece.

The soldiers won the match 16-0

In the second match of the day, Railways and Navy played out 1-1 draw. Umair Sattar gave Railways the lead which was equalized by Asad Azhar. The match was played on fast pace, but despite their best efforts, both the teams failed to add on further goals and had to settle for one point each.

In the third match, PAF thrashed Sindh 4-0. Mohib Ullah, Mudassar, Shahbaz and Mohsin scored one goal each for the airmen while fourth match between Wapda and Mari Petroleum Cooperation Limited (MPCL) was washed out due to rain and according to PHF rules, both teams were awarded one point each.

Hats off to Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) supporting staff and groundsmen, who, despite thunderous rain, which continued to lash out entire morning and afternoon, worked very hard to ensure matches played uninterrupted. Special thanks to PHF Staff Officer Tariq Mir for helping sports journalists getting timely updates.

PHF president Brig (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar also deserves all the credit for managing everything quite well. After first day’s of huge fuss, when sports journalists were running from post to pillar to get information but no one was bothered to help them out, the PHF chief not only took serious notice of the mismanagement, but also deputed Tariq Mir to assist media. Since then, everything is apple-pie order.