National Bank, WAPDA, Navy, Mari Petroleum reach CNS Hockey semis

Defending champions National Bank, WAPDA, Navy and Mari Petroleum Saturday reached the semi-finals of the Chief of Naval Staff Hockey Tournament at the Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey Stadium in Karachi being played under the auspices of Naval Sports Directorate.

Punjab, Port Qasim, Pakistan Army and Air Force were eliminated from the event after defeats in round matches. On the fifth day of the event, Mari Petroleum, Pakistan Army and Defense Champion National Bank won their respective matches.

Mari Petroleum defeated Pakistan Air Force in the first match of the fifth day by two goals in the last match of Group A. Mari Petroleum's Waqar Ali and Ali Anwar scored in the 7th and 38th minutes respectively. From Group A, Pakistan WAPDA have already qualified for the Final Four. Mari Petroleum goalkeeper Abdullah Ishtiaq was declared the best player of the match.

In the second match, Pakistan Army easily defeated Punjab by eight goals to two. Pakistan Army’s left-in Shahid Ali got the honour of making a hat trick. Shahid Ali scored three goals, Wasim Akram and Mohammad Safir scored two goals each while Ahmed Sohail scored one goal. Skipper Asher Tariq and Akbar Ali scored one goal each for Punjab. Shahid Ali was declared the best player of the match for making a hat trick.

In the last match of Group B, defending champions National Bank defeated Pakistan Navy 2-1. Captain Abu Bakar Mahmood and Amir Ali scored one goal each for National Bank. Asad Aziz scored for Pakistan Navy in the last minute of the match. Abu Bakar Mahmood was declared the best player of the match. With the victory, National Bank secured the first position in Group B with 9 points.

In the first semi-final on Monday, Pakistan WAPDA and Pakistan Navy will meet at 2 pm. The second semi-final will be played between defending champions National Bank and Mari Petroleum at 4 p.m.