Opening Ceremony

Sports Desk

Lahore:The final round of the 2nd COAS National Inter Club Hockey Championship 2025 kicked off today with a colourful opening ceremony. The honourable Chief Guest, Lieutenant General Fayyaz Hussain Shah, declared the tournament open amidst a large gathering of hockey legends, PHF officials, and sport enthusiasts.

The opening ceremony was witnessed by thousands of school children and players. The trophy of the tournament was also unveiled, followed by the launch of the official song of the grand event and performance on national song that added to the excitement and enthusiasm of the gathering.

The distinguished guests included national hockey heroes including Ch Akhtar Rasool, Manzoor ul Hasan, Tauqeer Dar, Shahbaz Ahmed Senior, Tahir Zaman, Asif Bajwa, Anjum Saeed, Danish Kaleem, Kamran Ashraf, M Khalid, Tariq Sheikh, Sheikh M Usman, M Kashif, M Asim, Mian Zahid Iqbal & Babar Abdullah besides President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), Mir Tariq Hussain Bughti and Secretary Rana Mujahid Ali.

Secretary PHF expressed his gratitude to the Pakistan Army for sustained support for the revival of the national support. He also appreciated the participating teams, officials, and organisers in making the event a big success.

The final round features the top 10 teams, which have qualified through district, division, and provincial rounds. The tournament started with district level contests across Pakistan from 20 December 2024 onwards, wherein 11594 players participated from 57 districts representing 527 clubs. Four teams from Punjab, two each from Sindh and KPK, and one each from Balochistan, GB, AJK, and Islamabad have qualified for the final stage. These teams will compete for the coveted trophy, showcasing their skills and talent on the national stage.

The matches between the best ten teams will continue until the final match and closing ceremony on 15 February 2025.