Army, Wapda, HEC and Punjab enter into semi-finals of 14th National Women Volleyball Championship

PESHAWAR, Oct 26 (APP):Pakistan Army,Pakistan Wapda, Higher Education and Punjab entered into the semi-finals of the ongoing 14th
National Women Volleyball Championship being played here at PSB Coaching Center on Friday.
Pakistan Army and Pakistan Wapda from group-A and HEC and
Punjab from group-B qualified for the semi-finals on the third day of the five
days Championship being organizing by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Volleyball Association
with the support of Directorate of Sports KP and Pakistan Volleyball
Federation.
Pakistan Wapda secured victories against Sindh, Islamabad
and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in straight sets and lost to Pakistan Army by taking
second position while Army defeated Wapda, by taking first position in the
group. Army also defeated Sindh, KP and Islamabad. In the group-B HEC and
Punjab recorded victories against AJK and Balochistan and moved into the
semi-finals.
Strong Wapda, having services of some veteran players,
recorded victory against young KP team in straight sets 3-0 while Army
overpowered Sindh 3-0 in another one-sided affair. Wapda team comprising
Madiha, Asma, Shabeena, Zeenat, Shadia, Sherish, Fozia, Rabia, Shadia,
Shaabana, Samreen, Nazia and Shakila, Irum and Atiya played like a rock, giving
no time to KP to settle down. The two strong smashers Madiha and Zeenat along
with setter Fozia on the right and Rabia on the left played a pivotal role in
steering team to victory.
KP players exhibited some good show but overall failed to
click against strong Wapda team. The KP players Umbar, Fatima, Irum, Lubna,
Javeria played well and rescued their team against Wapda team.
The two blockers of Wapda Shabeena and Sadia were
instrumental in guiding the team to victory. Wapda got the first set 25-17 and
did the same in second and third sets decided at 25-16 and 25-14.
In the second match Army defeated Sindh by 3-0, the score
was 27-17, 25-14 and 25-09. Army fully dominated the proceedings. In the other match AJK beat Balochistan by 3-0, the score was 25-23, 25-18 and 25-19. The players of AJK comprising Maria, Javeria,
Tahira, Sidra and Batool Fatima played well against Balochistan team including
Asmat, Kainat, Yasmeen and Fatima Zohra.
Sindh shocked Islamabad by 3-1, the score was 23-25,
25-21, 25-19 and 25-19. The Sindh players Lubna Naz, Farha Naz, Yasina
Tabasoom, Komal Shoukat and Syeda Khizran played well against strong Islamabad
team.
For Islamabad Sadia Rani, Sonia Wafa, Sara Golan, Fozia
and Nabeela Saddique played well and received thundering applauses from the
sitting spectators over their forceful smashes. In the last pool match Army and
Wapda gave each other a tough fight in the group match witnessed by capacity
crowd. Both the teams received thundering applauses from the sitting spectators
as there were strong resistance for a single point.
In the group match for the first position, Army shocked
Pakistan Wapda by 3-1 and got first position. Pakistan Wapda took the first set
24-26 which was tied more than six occasions. Because of the point to point
struggle from both sides the set was tied at 4-4, 6-6, 7-7, 10-10, 12-12,
17-17, 18-18, 19-19, 20-20, 21-21, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24 and thun Wapda got the
set by 24-26.
It was the second set when Army staged a strong come and
level the set tally 1-1 after winning the second set by 27-25 (Army). The Army
players comprising Azra, Muqadas, Neelam, Aysha, Anam, Iqra, Tayaba, Sonya,
Saba, Amna, Tayeeba and Bushra played well but Azra, hailing from Bannu, was
the pick of the pack for Army as her forceful smashes have no response from
Wapda side. She along with setter Iqra succeeded in beating Wapda blockers at
the net. Anum also played very pivotal role with her semi-smashes. Army got the
third set by 25-23 and 26-24.
Secretary Pakistan Volleyball Federation Shah Naeem
Zafar, Director PSB Mumtaz Ahmad Nadeem also large numbers of spectators were
also present and witnessed the group matches.