8:00pm: Emaan vs Sabr
In most instances the main event happens at the very end of the night after all the undercard fights - but not tonight! We get right into it with the two heavyweights all season long squaring up against each other. Boxing out of the left corner is Sabr, a team that most overlooked given their dismal results in the fall season. The evolution from the Malik Clan (Sabr) has been amazing to witness. With the emergence of Dawood Ciombar leading the league in goals, along with Akib Malik and Luqman Arshad facilitating the offense, as well as getting contributions from Saleem Malik, Ali Malik and Rizwan Malik has help to make this team the most lethal on the offensive end. At the same time, Sabr who opposing forwards feasted on in the fall has also been the best team all season long in defending their house, only conceding 11 goals so far. Tonight, with first place on the line, they get an opportunity to show the rest of the league where Sabr belongs. Malik means King…Kings sit on thrones above everyone else…So does Sabr claim the throne tonight?
Their opponents, boxing out of the right corner is Emaan, also known as TMT. TMT is often a sure bet to be the highest scoring team every season with box-office names such as, Arif Bijabhai, Umair Awan, Furqan Salam and finally current points leader Waqar Khan. However as mentioned above, Sabr ranks number one in that category. It seems though this version of TMT has found a balance between putting the ball into the net and keeping the ball out of their net. They have only surrendered 12 goals (again ranked behind Sabr). A lot of credit here has to go to Salman Khalid, Zuhair Fancy and Firasath Ali who were forced into playing a greater role with the season ending injury to Adeel Awan. Lost in all of this is the performance of Yusuf Kapoor, who often feels slighted on how people perceive his abilities. Like Amir Khan searching for a big money fight, tonight is an opportunity for Kapoor to respond to his critics. Despite all of these big names, go figure it was Rookie, Ibrahim Khan that scored the game winner in the first meeting between these two teams. Now, with greater stakes the stage is set for anyone willing to seize the moment.
9:00pm: Yaqeen vs Ihsan
Their opponents, boxing out of the right corner is Emaan, also known as TMT. TMT is often a sure bet to be the highest scoring team every season with box-office names such as, Arif Bijabhai, Umair Awan, Furqan Salam and finally current points leader Waqar Khan. However as mentioned above, Sabr ranks number one in that category. It seems though this version of TMT has found a balance between putting the ball into the net and keeping the ball out of their net. They have only surrendered 12 goals (again ranked behind Sabr). A lot of credit here has to go to Salman Khalid, Zuhair Fancy and Firasath Ali who were forced into playing a greater role with the season ending injury to Adeel Awan. Lost in all of this is the performance of Yusuf Kapoor, who often feels slighted on how people perceive his abilities. Like Amir Khan searching for a big money fight, tonight is an opportunity for Kapoor to respond to his critics. Despite all of these big names, go figure it was Rookie, Ibrahim Khan that scored the game winner in the first meeting between these two teams. Now, with greater stakes the stage is set for anyone willing to seize the moment.
9:00pm: Yaqeen vs Ihsan
This season was a nightmare for Yaqeen as they could never get anything going. After losing to Haya last week they find themselves eliminated from the playoffs, this game for Yaqeen is about pride… no one wants to have the record for the least number of wins in a season - in this case they are still looking for win number one. They are up against the defending champions who come in needing a big night to avoid playing the wildcard game next week against Haya. It is expected that Ihsan should have the Soliman brothers and their starting goaltender, Zaid Majoo available tonight. This is the first of two games Ihsan will be playing. On paper, this seems like an easy two points Ihsan can bank. However, keep in mind Yaqeen has nothing to lose and in fact they have a chance to exact some revenge on the team that beat them in last season’s finals.
10:00pm: Haya vs Taqwa
10:00pm: Haya vs Taqwa
After securing the final playoff spot against Yaqeen last week, Haya can rest easy tonight. Yet, this game might be a preview of their wildcard opponents. So it might be more beneficial for them to try to study and dissect Taqwa’s style of play. Also Haya can use this game to help integrate recent waiver pickup Asaad Darr into their offense. He did score a clutch goal that got them to the playoffs, so having him become more familiar with his line-mates is a great return on investment with playoffs happening next week. From Taqwa’s perspective they are trying to lock up 3rd overall and in the process avoid having to play the wildcard game. At the same time Adil Patel has two games (his team plays a double header) to take over Dawood Ciombar as the league’s top goal scorer.
11:00pm: Ihsan vs Taqwa
11:00pm: Ihsan vs Taqwa
For both teams this will be their second game of the night and most likely this game will determine who will have to play in the wildcard game next week against Haya. In their first meeting, Ihsan won by a 5-2 final score. In that game, Ihsan was dominant and the outcome was never in doubt. Yousuf Sowdagar and Yousuf Soliman did the most damage that night. Perhaps if Taqwa has more people show up (they were short benched in their first meeting) then expect to see more of a contest. As well, remember Adil Patel has the extra motivation to see if he can capture the goal scorer award.
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