Wapda women hockey team outplayed Punjab Colours by 4-0 to clinch inaugural First Chief Minister Punjab 5-a-Side National Women Hockey Championship at the National Hockey Stadium on Wednesday. In the 3rd/4th position match, Railways women hockey team trounced Army by 2-1.
Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Fahmida Mirza and her husband Zulfiqar Mirza were the guests of honour at the grand concluding ceremony. They were also introduced with the finalist teams prior to the title clash.
Federal Minister for IPC Fahmida Mirza awarded the winners' trophy and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh to the Wapda team. Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani distributed medals among runners up and 3rd position holder teams of the event.
DG Pakistan Sports Board Asif Zaman, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani, Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh, PHF Women Hockey Wing General Manager Ms Tanzeela Amir Cheema, Director Admin Javed Chohan, Director Sports Hafeez Bhatti, head coach of national hockey team Olympian Khawaja Junaid, Col (retd) Asif Naz Khokhar, Olympian M Usman and a large number of hockey players and enthusiasts were also present on this occasion.
A total cash prize of Rs 10 lakh was distributed among the top teams. The title winning team Wapda got first prize of Rs five lakh, runners up Punjab Colours received Rs three lakh followed by Rs two lakh by 3rd position holder team Railways. The best player (Sidra Hakim of Punjab) and best goalkeeper (Tahira Aslam of Wapda) of the event were also awarded Rs 10,000 each.
Both the teams began the title clash aggressively and attacked each other’s goal posts repeatedly. The Wapda team got a 2-0 lead at half time. Hamra Latif of the Wapda team scored two goals while Nida Asghar and Afsheen contributed one goal each in the final match.
Earlier, in the 3rd/4th position match, Railways women hockey team trounced Army by 2-1 at the same venue. Railways Arzoo Mansoor and Sarika Sarwar netted one goal each in 3rd and 9th minute respectively through field efforts while Army’s solitary field goal was struck by Sidra Bibi in 14th minute.
After the final match, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani, Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh, PHF Women Hockey Wing General Manager Ms Tanzeela Amir Cheema, Director Admin Javed Chohan, Director Sports Hafeez Bhatti, Chand Perveen, Ms Rahat Khan, Dr Amir Sohail, Tournament Director Ms Abida Tanveer, Ms Razia Rizvi, Punjab, Wapda, Railway Team Managers, DSO Rana Nadeem Anjum, Abdul Rauf Roofi, Nasir Malik, Bilal Akram, Raeesur Rehman and Shahid Nizami were awarded souvenirs.