Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) toppled heavyweights Pakistan WAPDA 75-73 in a nerve-jangling encounter in their last pool fixture of the Inter-Department National Basketball Championship here at Liaquat Gymnasium, Pakistan Sports Complex on Sunday
In the first match, PAF earned an upset triumph after crushing Pakistan WAPDA with a narrow margin of two points, as the winners were in deficit after the first three quarters. However, however, 4th quarter was a thriller and PAF players were crawling behind the WAPDA team, as they were down by 15 points. WAPDA were up in the match by two points before the one minute and eight seconds final whistle.
Umair Jan along with Ahmad Jan and Mohammad Mehtab scored 25, 10, 10 points respectively and played a vital role in PAF’s victory. Prem Shahzad netted the ball in the last few second of the match for the winning team to make score-line 75-73.
Meanwhile, in the second match, Pakistan Army continued its winning streak and defeated Pakistan Ordinance Factories (POF) Wah 104-30 points. Mohammad Shahid scored 17 points and Mohammad Shahbaz scored 15 points for Army side. The matches were supervised by Sadat Jehangir, Naveed Ahmed Beeda, Adeel Syed Raza, M M Alam and Khurram Khan.
The first semi-final of the inter-departmental championship will be played on Monday between defending champion Pakistan Army and WAPDA while the second semi-final will be played between Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF).
Senior Vice President of Pakistan Basketball Federation (PBBF) Imtiaz Rafi Butt, President Federal Basketball Association (FBBA) Ejaz Butt, PBBF Associate Secretary Ouj E Zahoor, Former Pakistan Basketball Team Coach Malik M Riaz, Pakistan Sports Board Deputy Director Generals Mansoor Ahmed Khan, Ch Saeed Akhtar, Mohammad Azam Dar, and sizeable spectators also witness the matches.
