RAWALPINDI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) scored two goals in the first 13 minutes to lift the inaugural Chief of the Army Staff Challenge (COAS) Hockey Cup, overcoming Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) 2-0 in the final here at the Army Hockey Stadium.
Chief of Army Staff Chief General Raheel Sharif himself witnessed the thrilling contest between the two teams along with President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Chaudhry Akhtar Rasool and Secretary Rana Mujahid.
The winners, NBP, dominated their opponents for the better part of an epic battle. They got off a flying start at the outset when Ali Shan scored the first goal on a penalty corner rebound in the third minute of the fixture. Ten minutes later captain Tauseeq Ahmed converted another penalty corner into a goal, giving a 2-0 lead to his team that lasted till the end.
PIA strived hard to equalize the match but their attacks were not good enough to tame NBP, who moved into the second session with a clear lead. The final session saw an exchange of attacks but both the teams remained unable to score any goal. Overall PIA got 11 penalty corners as compared to NBP's four, however the former remained unable to avail any opportunity.
Later, the Chief of Army Staff shook hands with the NBP, PIA and Pakistan Army players and gave away medals to them. He also handed over cash prizes to top three teams of the event. NBP earned a cash prize of Rs 1000,000 as winners, PIA grabbed Rs 700,000 as runners-up, while Pakistan Army pocketed Rs 500,000 for finishing third.
Muhammad Imran of Pakistan Army was awarded top scorer award as he scored nine goals in the event. Best goalkeeper award was given to Imran Butt of PIA, while Rizwan Senior of Pakistan Army bagged the best player award of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif assured his complete cooperation in the revival of Pakistan hockey. According to ISPR, he said that every endeavour for the revival of sports in the country would be supported. He said the golden days of the national game would be brought back adding that Pakistan would be introduced in the world as a sports loving country.
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