02-May-2012
By: Mohsin Ali | The Nation
ISLAMABAD - Wapda retained the National Women's Basketball Championship title with a comfortable 51-31 victory over Higher Education Commission in the final at sports hall of the Bahria University/
Hosts Islamabad edged out Punjab to claim third spot in the third place play-off played at Hamidi Hall, Pakistan Sports Complex on Tuesday.
The decider was a replay of an earlier Group A encounter between the two sides, when Wapda had won the battle 51-38. Both teams fought hard in the first half as defending champions collected 13 points against HEC’s nine, the two sides got 6 baskets each as the teams went into the break Wapda leading by 19-15.
Wapda started to play like champions in third quarter and amassed 16 points in the 10-minute period and restricted HEC to just five. Munazza Butt sealed the fate of the match with another impressive performance in the fourth quarter. Though HEC tried to comeback but their efforts were not enough to rattle the strong Wapda defence.
Munazza was the star player of the final with a contribution of 16 points; Rubina Qaiser added 10, while Umme Laila and Fariha Khan helped in with nine and seven baskets respectively.
Nayar Nasir led HEC's spirited challenge, scoring eight baskets, Sana (7) and Asma (6) also had a good final.
Earlier in the match for third position, Islamabad edged out Punjab by a whisker to get third spot. Punjab was the better team in the first quarter, taking an 11-5 lead but Islamabad bounced back to put opponents under pressure in the remaining three quarters. Islamabad finally managed to beat Punjab 24-23.
Sara Mehmood of Islamabad scored 13 baskets, while skipper Roaa Tahir and Saqiba Arshad helped with four baskets each. Almira Ch netted nine baskets for Punjab while Samina (5) and Hira Niazi (4) also had a good game.
Pakistan Basketball Federation President Asif Bajwa was the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony.
The National Women's Basketball Championship was organised by the Higher Education Commission in collaboration with the Pakistan Basketball Federation.
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