Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Sargodha division teams cruised into the semifinals of Rising Punjab Games 2024 Hockey Championship after winning their respective quarterfinal matches at National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
The first semifinal in Rising Punjab Games Hockey Championship will be played between Sahiwal and Sargodha division teams on Sunday, January 21 while the divisional teams of Lahore, Faisalabad will face off in the second semifinal on the same day.
On the other hand, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sahiwal and Faisalabad division teams also reached the semifinals stage of Volleyball Championship after defeating their respective opponents at Nishtar Park Sports Complex Gymnasium Hall.
The first volleyball semifinal will be played between Lahore and Gujranwala while Sahiwal and Faisalabad division teams will lock horns in the second semifinal clash.
It is worth-mentioning that the competitions of Rising Punjab Games are the first competitive sports event of the revolutionary Annual Sports Calendar being organized under the banner of Sports Board Punjab (SBP).
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail in a statement on Friday said that all the participating divisional hockey and volleyball teams are exhibiting wonderful performances in the Rising Punjab Games. “All possible measures are being taken for the development of sports across the province”.
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail said that the top position holder teams and other prominent performers will be given cash prizes of one and a half crore rupees. “It is for the first time in Punjab’s history that such huge cash prizes are being given in a sports event,” he maintained.
The hockey matches of Rising Punjab Games 2024 were played at the National Hockey Stadium.
In an important match on the third day, Lahore division toppled Bahawalpur by 3-0. Abdul Rehman scored two goals and Awais contributed one goal for Lahore team.
Faisalabad overpowered Rawalpindi by 4-2 in the next encounter. Hassan, Shahzaib, Abdullah Yusuf and Ijaz netted one goal each for Faisalabad while Sikandar Zakir and Mubasher were the scorers from Rawalpindi.
Sahiwal trounced DG Khan by a big margin of 5-2 in another quarterfinal match. It is interesting to note that Rizwan Ali of Sahiwal scored all five goals for his team which was the main feature of the match. Zohaib and Sameer scored one each from DG Khan.
In another match on the third day, Sargodha outclassed Multan by 2-0. Rana Shoaib and Mohsin Bilal scored one goal each for Sargodha team.
The match between Rawalpindi and Gujranwala remained goalless while the match between Sahiwal and Bahawalpur was tied with two goals each. Rizwan Ali and Syed Kashif scored one goal each for Sahiwal while Mohsin Hasan and Junaid Manzoor netted one goal each for Bahawalpur Division.
In volleyball matches on the third day, Lahore team routed Bahawalpur in straight sets by 25-15 and 25-19. Faisalabad thumped the Rawalpindi division by 25-21 and 25-18. Sargodha division team defeated Multan by a margin of 2-0 with a score of 25-18 and 25-19. Faisalabad beat Gujranwala by 25-14 and 25-23.
Sahiwal thrashed DG Khan by 25-10 and 25-8. Gujranwala defeated Sargodha by 2-0 with the score line of 25-13 and 25-14. Rawalpindi also handed Multan a 2-0 debacle with the set score of 25-11 and 25-14.