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| The Wanderers hockey team who finished second in the Bahrain tournament |
Waseem Hockey Club (WHC) of Pakistan displayed superior skills and experience to defeat Wanderers Hockey Club of Qatar 2-0 to win the Bahrain Open Hockey 7s organised by the Bahrain Hockey Association and sponsored by Gulf Agency Company (GAC) at the St Christopher’s School campus in Saar.
The first BHA tournament of the season featuring 10 teams from five countries, was held under the patronage of the General Secretary of the Bahrain Olympic Committee Shaikh Ahmed bin Hamad al-Khalifa.
The goal in the final came after eight minutes of the ten-minute first half through WHC captain Waseem Ahmed who is Pakistan’s most capped player. In the second half, WHC doubled their lead after Farouk Ahmed combined with another Pakistan international to slot home the goal after four minutes.
Playing on artificial grass, Wanderers created few chances even when 2-0 down. WHC’s squad included Waseem Ahmed, Basil, Farooq Ahmed, Nasir Ahmed, Zeeshan Tariq, Mubashar Ali Khan, Uzair Ahmed, Kashif Ali and Ataul Munim. Wanderers, captained by Ryan Dias, had Manoj Sutar, Juned Coutinho, June D’Souza, Savio Nayak, Stephen Menezes, Shannon George, Ronald Fernandes, Ashley Sequeira and Ausprio Rodrigues.
The third place play-off was won by Sharjah Youth Hockey (SYH) of the UAE 3-2 on penalties against Bahrain’s Dadabhai Travels. In the semi-finals, WHC crushed Dadabhai Travels 6-1 and Wanderers won 2-0 against SYH to book their places in the final.