QUETTA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa upset Azad Jammu and Kashmir in a thrilling semi-final of the 5th National Men Soccer Futsal Championship being played here at the PSB Coaching Centre, Ayub Sports Complex on Wednesday.
Spirited KP faced tough resistance at the hands of strong Azad Jammu and Kashmir team in the first semi-finals of the Championship wherein a large number of spectators witnessed the semi-final match.
Secretary Sports Balochistan Mir Imran Gachki, Chairman Pakistan Soccer Futsal Federation Malik Mehraban, President Sardar Ali Khan Kakar, Chairman Organizing Committee Dr. Malik Adnan, Secretary KP Futsal Association Moeen Uddin, Director General Sports Balochistan, Director PSB Coaching Centre Balochistan, Adviser to the Chief Minister Punjab and Chairman Punjab Futsal Association Mumtaz Kalo, players and officials were also present.
Before the start of the semi-finals, the players were introduced to the guests on this occasion. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team comprising Haris Ahmad, Suhaib Afridi, Hamza Durrani, Sana Ullah, Usama, Haseeb and Haris Mehmood played like a rock and did not give much time to Azad Jammu and Kashmir team to including Farhan, Basit, Sajid, Raja Ibrar, Waqas, Haider, Hashim and Abtisham to strike back.
AJK took the lead in the very first minute through centre striker Sajid on the field attempt and Abtisham, the right winger and Raja Ibrar, the left winger scored one goal each to make the tally 3-0 in the first 7th minute play.
KP after conceding quick goals against AJK, managed their position and Haris Ahmad, who was the pick of the pack, slammed in two consecutive goals in the 10th and 12 minute to make the tally 2-3 while Suhaib Afridi succeeded in scoring the equalizer in the 15th minute.
After 3-3, KP dominated the proceedings with a pack defence and scored six more goals when Haris scored his third and second hat-trick of the Championship while Suhaib, Haseeb, Hamza Durrani scored two goals each to make the tally 9-3. It was in the last moments when Raja scored two quick goals to make the tally 9-5. Thus
KP won the match by 9-5 before 3 goal-down in the first 7th minute of the match.
In the second match semi-final Balochistan Red recorded victory against Balochistan White by 7-4 when Shahid Khan, Ishtiaq Laal, Izzat Ullah, Habib Pathan, Riaz Ahmad, Abdul Razzaq, Irfan scored one goal while for Balochistan White Aftab and Abdul Basit scored two goals each.
Earlier, Balochistan White, Balochistan Red, AJK and KP took berth into the semi-finals after recording victories against their respective rivals in the quarter-finals. In the first match of the first quarter-final AJK defeated Gilgit Baltistan by 3-2 in a thrilling match. Gilgit-Baltistan played well and gave a tough fight. In the second quarter-final Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded victory against Islamabad by 4-3, Balochistan Red beat Sindh by 5-4 and Balochistan White upset Punjab by 3-2 in a thrilling match and thus moved to the semi-finals.