Former champions and local challengers Western Railway, Mumbai, powered by penalty corner specialist Amit Rohidas’ super hat-trick charged to a fluent 5-1 win against South Central Railway, Secundrabad in a quarter-final match of the Dabang Mumbai –50th All India Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament 2015 and played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Union Bank of India and Bank of India are the co-sponsors of the tournament.
CAG forward Nitin Thimmaiah (2nd from left) is set to have a hit the ball past Central Railway goalkeeper Avadhut Solankar during their 2-1 quarter-final win.
After Rohidas fired Western in front scoring from their second short corner in the 23rd minute, the southern side managed to restore parity through Gurbhej Singh who also converted a short corner in the 33rd minutes as the first half finished on level terms at 1-all. However, after the change of ends, Western came into their own, and fired in four goals in the second period to run away with the match. Rohidas
scored from two more penalty corners in the 43rd and 53rd minutes before Stanley Minz (54th min) and captain Vinod Kumar (65th min) hammered in the final two goals to complete Western’s win and confirm their place in the semi-final.
In the semi-final, Western will meet CAG (Comptroller & Audit
General), Delhi who rallied from a 0-1 first half deficit to get the better of a fighting Central Railway, Mumbai by a close 2-1 margin. International Devendra Walmiki struck Central’s goal from their second penalty corner in the 20th minute as they enjoyed a slender 1-0 half-time lead. However, CAG changed tactics in the second half and managed to score two quick goals during this period through Darshan D.S, who first, converted a short corner in the 48th minute and seven
minutes later scored from a penalty stroke after teammate Thimmaiah as stick-checked by a rival defender inside the circle.
Earlier in the morning, former champs and last year’s runners-up Indian Oil, Bangalore had quite a fight on hand before they managed to overcome Indian Navy 6-3 to advance to the semi-final.
The sailors did well to grab the initiative when Rana Pratap scored from a field effort to give the Navy outfit a 1-0 half-time lead. Skipper DeepakThakur triggered Indian Oil’s fight back with a field goal in the 41st minute, but in the next minute Navy regained the lead when Janma Majhi converted from a penalty stroke.
However, Indian Oil’s full back and ace drag-flick specialist
Gurjinder showed his prowess converting from three successive short corners to give his side a good 4-2 lead. In the 61st minute, Navy reduced the deficit when Jaspal Singh managed to find the target from a field effort. But later Thakur and Dharamvir Singh produced two late strikes to clinch the win for the oilmen.
Gurjinder (Indian Oil), Amit Rohidas (Western Railway) and Nitin Thimmaiah (CAG) were all adjudged the ‘Man-of-the-match’ in their respective matches and they received a cash award of Rs 2,000 each.
Monday is a rest day. Both semi-final matches will be played
on tuesday.
Results – (quarter-finals): Indian Oil 6 (Deepak Thakur 41st, 63rd, Gurjinder Singh 50th, 55th, 58th, Dharamvir Singh 69th) beat Indian Navy 3 (Rana Pratap 12th, Janma Majhi 42nd, Jaspal Singh 61st).
Man-of-the-match: Gurjinder Singh (Indian Oil).
Western Railway 5 (Amit Rohidas 23rd, 43rd, 53rd, Stanley Minz 54th, Vinod Kumar Singh 65th) beat South Central Railway 1 (Gurbhej Singh).
Man-of-the-match: Amit Rohidas (Western Railway).
CAG 2 (Darshan D.S. 48th, 55th) beat Central Railway 1 (Devendra Walmiki 28th). Man-of-the-match: Nitin Thimmaiah (CAG).
BPCL 3 (S.V. Sunil 25th, 61st, Ravi Pal 69th) beat Air India 2 (Sameer Dad 30th, Pawan Kumar 51st).
Man-of-the-match: S.V. Sunil (BPCL).