Islamabad-Hat-trick boy Jahangir helped KP Whites hammer Balochistan Whites 11-1 in the 1st National U-18 Hockey Championship match played here at the Naseer Bunda International Hockey Stadium on Friday.
Bilal opened the scoring in the second minute of the first quarter, when he scored a field goal to provide KP 1-0 lead which was soon doubled by skipper Jahangir in the 5th minute through a powerfully struck plenty corner.
Umair made it 3-0 in the 11th minute scoring a field goal, while it was 4-0 in the 14th minute, when Bilal scored his second and the team’s fourth to finish the first quarter having 4-0 lead. Umair scored the fifth goal in the 18th minute, while Jahangir scored sixth in the 25th minute and struck the seventh in the 29th minute to make it 7-0. Wajid converted a beautiful goal to enhance KP’s lead to 8-0 which was further strengthened by Basit in the 34th minute, while Ishrat scored 10th goal in the 36th minute to make it 10-0.
Balochistan finally got a consolation goal in the 48th minute through Yousaf to reduce the deficit to 10-1. But Balochistan misery was completed when Bilal Senior scored 11th goal to help KOP register an impressive 11-1 victory.
In the second match of the day, KP Colours beat Punjab Greens 3-2 in arguably the match of the entire tournament. KP was enjoying overwhelming support, as a large presence of Pahktoon community turned up to support their favourite team. KP scored all the three goals in just 7 minutes with Kherullah scoring the first goal in the 3rd minute, Amjed in the 6th minute and Afraz in the 7th minute to provide their team 3-0 lead.
No goal was scored in the second quarter. Punjab finally got momentum in the third quarter when Usman Basheer struck a goal in the 37th minute and hit the second in the 52nd minute to make it 3-2 and also put a new life in the match.
Punjab put tremendous pressure on KP and tried their level best to equalise, but KP defence remained rock solid, especially their goalie saved a numerous strikes. KP took huge sigh of relief when the final whistle was blown. KP players took off their T-shirts and celebrated their victory while dancing on the pitch.
In the third and last match of the day, Islamabad outclassed Balochistan Colours 5-0. The first quarter ended goalles. Islamabad settled down well in the second quarter and gave Balochistan tough time. Essa scored the first goal in the 17th minute and second in the 29th minute to make it 2-0. Hamid scored the third goal for Islamabad while Usman Janjua struck the fourth and Haq Nawaz fifth goal to guide Islamabad to win.
Olympian Shahbaz Senior, M Irfan and others were also present on the occasion. Tournament director Col (R) Ahmed Nawaz Malik said: “KP manager Zia Buneri tendered unconditional written apology to me and I accepted it in the best interest of hockey. He accepted his mistake and was highly humbled, so I decided to forgive him and allow him a place on the bench.”