Punjab-A crowned U16 National Junior Hockey Championship 2020 Champions

Full-back Bilal Aslam sounded the board twice by guiding Punjab-A to a comfortable 4-2 victory against Punjab-C in the all Punjab affairs final of the U16 National Junior Hockey Championship played at Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium, Peshawar.

The final started at a fast pace as both the teams showed excellent stick-work and stamina and attacked each other goal-post. As a result, Punjab-A soon took the lead in the 7th minute when full-back Bilal Aslam sounded the board with his excellent forceful hit from the top of the circle.

Punjab-A lead did not last long and four minutes later Punjab-C’s Muhammad Uzair scored to make it 1-1 when he converted a penalty stroke in the 11th minute. The right-winger was blocked wrongly by Punjab-A deep defenders and umpire Haroon Rasheed signaled the spot in favour of Punjab-C it 2-1 by scoring a field goal in the 25th minute.

In the 25th minute Punjab-C's Bilal Akram scored a field goal to give his team a very vital lead. It was a right-winger Shahid Akash move, which ended in a goal. Shahid along with center striker Hassan Amin made a well-combined move and kept up pressure on the Punjab-A team to get more lead but the deep defenders did not allow them.

Seven minutes later, Punjab-A captain Adnan Shahid scored from a penalty corner to level the match at 2-2. Muhammad Ahmed scored in the 40th minute to give Punjab-A 4-2 lead, which lasted until the end of the game. Thus Punjab A won gold and Punjab C won silver.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which had won all its five league matches and had 15 points, was awarded the third position trophy and bronze medal. Haroon Rashid and Afsar Ali supervised the final. The field jury included Muhammad Yaqub, Ejaz Ahmad Khokhar and Hamza Tufail.

Governor KP Shah Farman was the chief guest who distributed medals, trophies and cash prizes among the players of both the teams. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the third position after winning all its five pool matches.

Reported by: Ijaz Ahmed