Peshawar Lines Clinch Floodlight Ramadan Challenge Hockey Cup

Peshawar Lines clinched the trophy of the Floodlight Ramadan Hockey Cup after defeating Peshawar Greens in the final played at Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium here on Tuesday.

PESHAWAR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jun, 2018 ) :Peshawar Lines clinched the trophy of the Floodlight Ramadan Hockey Cup after defeating Peshawar Greens in the final played at Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium here on Tuesday.

Director General Sports KP Junaid Khan was the chief guest on this occasion and also witnessed the grand final.

President KP Hockey Association Syed Zahir Shah, Organizing Secretary Syed Jaffar Shah, and large number of spectators were also present.

The final started under the lights with slow pace and soon it took momentum when Peshawar Greens took the lead through right winger Amjad netted a fine goal on a penalty corner rebound. After taking lead Peshawar Greens kept up pressure and succeeded in scoring another goal on field attempt when full back Abdul Hadi through a drag push netted a fine goal to make the tally 2-0.

When taking 2-0 lead, Peshawar Greens forwards put in more pressure and also have ball position by creating a panic like situation in the rank of Peshawar Lines team. It was the second quarters when Peshawar Greens got three consecutive penalty corners but due to poor handling of the ball and thus all threats thwarted.

It was the third quarters when star full-back international Zahid Ullah dispatched a beautiful goal through penalty corner conversion. It was a forceful push of Zahid Ullah which did not give much time to Peshawar Blues goal-keeper Salman to stop.

Zahid Ullah scored another goal in similar fashion through penalty corner conversion to make the tally 2-2. When both teams were tied 2-2 they raided on each other territory but failed to click and thus the final match ended in a 2-2 draw. To get certain result both were awarded five each penalty strokes but both were again tied 5-5.

It was a sudden goal display when Peshawar Lines succeeded in scoring and thus won the match by 8-7. Afsar and Haroon supervised the match while Master Khan acted as judge.

Soon after the match a grand closing ceremony was also organized wherein position holders of Table Tennis, Badminton, Tug of War, Football, Swimming, and Hockey were awarded trophies and cash prizes.

Director General Sports Junaid Khan lauded the association for holding their activities under the aegis of Directorate of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said it is a regular feature of the Directorate to have all sports activities. He said Directorate of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had kept more focus on the promotion of grassroots level and that is why it organized major games during the Holy Month of Ramaza.

About hockey, he said, laying of artificial turfs continued at Bannu and Abbottabad wherein a project of the game has been completed in Mardan. He said funds have been allocated for the laying of new artificial turfs at Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium Peshawar, Abbottabad, Buner, Swat would be completed in the next fiscal years.

He said equipping Hayatabad Sports Complex, Abdul Wali Khan Football Complex, Qayyum Sports Complex and Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium with floodlight facilities mean sports activities would be organized during the night time providing ample opportunities to the players to come and show their talent.

He said new international standards table tennis, mates of the badminton, facilities of all weather swimming pool and comprehensive plan has been chalked out for the development of other games where Khyber Pakhunkhwa have more talent.