Faisalabad and Sargodha division teams stormed into the final of the Rising Punjab Games 2024 Hockey Championship after winning their respective semifinal matches at National Hockey Stadium on Sunday.
On the other hand, Gujranwala and Faisalabad division teams also reached the final of the Volleyball Championship after defeating their respective opponents Lahore and Sahiwal in the semifinals at Nishtar Park Sports Complex Gymnasium Hall on the same day.
Director Sports Yasmeen Akhtar, Olympian Kh Junaid and other officials were also present on this occasion. The final competitions of both Rising Punjab Games hockey and volleyball championships will be played on January 22 (Monday).
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail congratulated the winning hockey and volleyball teams for reaching the finals of the grand sports event.
The first semifinal in the Rising Punjab Games Hockey Championship was played between divisional teams of Lahore and Faisalabad. After playing a 1-1 draw in the stipulated time, the Faisalabad team defeated the strong Lahore team by 3-1 in the penalty shoot out contest.
Awais, Abdullah and Naveed sent the ball into the net for Faisalabad while Lahore's only goal was scored by M Ammad.
The second semifinal was played between Sahiwal and Sargodha division teams in which Sargodha emerged winner by a narrow margin of 2-1. Sargodha's Rana Waleed and Basharat struck one field goal each in the 2nd and 48th minute respectively while Sahiwal's only goal was scored by M Abid in the 56th minute through a penalty stroke.
In the Rising Punjab Games Volleyball Championship, Gujranwala shocked a strong Lahore division team by 3-0 in the first semifinal match with the score of 25-23, 25-14 and 25-20 while Faisalabad division team outplayed Sahiwal by 3-1 in the second semifinal clash with the score line of 22-25, 25-16, 25-15 and 25-11.
It may be noted here 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).