Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD:-Pakistan WAPDA clinched double titles of the 21st National Netball Championship after winning both Men’s and Women’s finals at Liaquat Gymnasium, Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad on Thursday. In Men’s final WAPDA snatched the victory from Pakistan Army with the difference of solitary point 24-23 while Women’s fixture WAPDA females defeated Higher Education Commission (HEC) 22-11.
Director General, Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), Col (Retd) Asif Zaman graced the prize distribution as a chief guest and distributed the trophies, medals and certificates among the players. When he entered the Laiquat Gymnasium the referee pushed the button of the buzzer of the final round. Zaman did not see a glimpse of the final match that showed the interest of Asif Zaman, who is the head of Pakistan’s top sports organization Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).
The men’s final was a nail and bite contest and players of both teams exhibited top quality game. Army were leading in the first three quarters respectively 6-4, 15-14 and 21-20 but WAPDA players snatched the victory from them in the last quarter, as they cleverly defended the last attempt of Army men in the last minutes. The final score was 24-23. Army players were not satisfied with the various decisions of umpires. Yasir Javad and Anwar Ahmed supervised the men’s final.
President, Pakistan Netball Federation (PNF), Mudassar Arian, Secretary Syed Gohar Raza, Director General, Wapda Sports Board, Mohammad Musharaf, Mehar Sajid (Navy) and other officials of PNF and PSB were present in the prize distribution ceremony. Army players refused to attend the closing ceremony, however, on the request of an official they joined the ceremony and collected their medals and runner-up trophy from the hands of the chief guest.
Results:
In the men's final: Pakistan Wapda beat Pakistan Army 24-23
In third position match: Pakistan Navy beat HEC by 30-22
In the women's final: Pakistan Wapda defeated HEC 22-11
In the 3rd position match: Pakistan Army beat Sind 15-18
Results (Under-17 Inter Schools and Colleges Event):
In the final match: City PAF Chapter, Karachi beat Danish School, Rajanpur 16-20
In the 3rd position match: Danish School, Mianwali beat Habib girls School 8-5.
