Tribal Lions, Malakand Tigers, Kohat Eagles Record Victories In KP National Hockey League

PESHAWAR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Oct, 2021 ) :FES Tribal Lions, Malakand Tigers and Kohat Eagles recorded victories on the opening day matches simultaneously played at newly hockey turfs at Abdullah Wali Khan sports Complex Charsadda and Islamia College University here on Monday.

The fourth scheduled match to be played between Dera Ismail Khan Stallions and Peshawar Falcon has been cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances, organizing Secretary and Present KP Hockey Association Syed Zahir Shah told APP.

"We will try and discuss the reason behind the cancellation of the match late last night," he added. However, Dera Ismail Khan Stallions also reached Peshawar in the morning but the fate of that match is in doldrums despite presence of both the teams at Islamia College ground.

When contacted Director Operation, Syed Saqlain Shah, he said that the decision will be taken after a meeting with the organizing Secretary Syed Zahir Shah and later on it would be decided when Dera Ismail Khan Stallions and Peshawar Falcon would play their match scheduled in the group.

Earlier, FES Tribal Lions came up a very spirited team defeating strong Mardan Bears in a one-sided affair after taking one goal lead in each quarters before securing a vital 4-0 against Mardan Bears in the opening match.

Senior Coach Ayub Khan and Manager of the team Bilal Khan Marwat were in jubilation after the team's victory against Mardan Bears. Star full-back Amjad took the lead in the 11th minute through a penalty corner conversion when right winger international Rana Waheed took the ball from his center-half Hamad Anjum and after exchanging it with another international player Adeel Latif reached in the danger zone. This was Ibrahim, the deep defender of the Mardan Bears, who wrongly intercepted Adeel Latif and referee Hamza Khan awarded them a penalty corner on which full-back Amjad scored a beautiful goal on a drag push.

After taking the lead it was in the 54th minute when FES Tribal Lions took the lead through Adeel Latif on the field attempt while Afraz made it 3-0 by scoring in the next minute and international Hamad Anjum scored the fourth goal on the field attempt to make it 4-0.

The international players of Mardan Bears including Mohib Ullah, Junaid Kamal, Hamza Waheed and Aqeel Khan also tried their hard to take the charge with some fine attacking moves were also witnessed but FES Tribal Lion goal-keeper padded all attempts nicely and did not let Mardan Bears to reduce the margin.

Thus the Tribal Lions won the match 4-0. Hamza Khan and Atif, the two international umpires, supervised the match while Tufail Khan, Hidayat Ullah, Qaiser Wahood acted as field judges.

In another thrilling match Malakand stunned Bannu Panthers by 3-0. Pakistan national team player and star full-back Mubasir Ali played a key role when he scored the first and third goal in 24th minute and 57th minute through penalty corner conversion. His superb anticipation through his perfect drag-push has no answer with Bannu Panthers goal-keeper. International Anees scored the second goal through a right winger attack and thus Malakand won the match by 3-0.

Bannu Panthers Moin Shakeel, Roman, Muneeb and Jehangir also tried their hardest to reduce the margin but due to the pack defence line of Malakand, they were unable to score a single goal and thus lost the match in a one-sided affair.

Earlier, Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani formally inaugurated the League-2021 in a colorful opening ceremony wherein all the participation teams took part in the March Past.

The ceremony started with the recitation from the Holy Quran by Qari Adnan, followed by the National Anthem. The Promo Song of the League was also displayed with singer Sajid Khan performed, followed by two another song sung by Moiz Mohmand with his melodious voice which largely enthralled the sitting spectators and the players who participated alongside with their traditional "Athern" dance.

Olympian Rahim Khan on behalf of Pakistan took oath to follow all the rules of the games during the 11 day event which will continue until October 15, 2021. All the teams' owners were also met with the Speaker Provincial Assembly. Former IG and Senior Vice President Pakistan Hockey Federation Muhammad Saeed Khan, Secretary Sports Abid Majeed, Additional Secretaries Tashfeen Haider, Muhammad Babar Khan, DG Sports Asfandyar Khattak, Director Youth Saleem Jan Marwat, officials of the Directorate Sports KP, players and spectators were also present. A stunning firework was also displayed on this occasion.