Former champions and strong title contenders, Air India soared to a comfortable 4-1 win against Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF) in a Pool-B match of the Dabang Mumbai – 50th All India Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium on Friday afternoon. Union Bank of India and Bank of India are the co-sponsors of the tournament. Birendra Lakra, Sameer Dad, Vikram Pillay and Bishan Singh all scored a goal each for Air India who went into the break with a slender 1-0 advantage. RCF managed to reduce the margin of defeat with Mayur Patil striking the target in the final minute.
Air India midfielder Arjun Halappa (left) keeps the ball under control as he is chased by a RCF defender during a Pool-B league match of MHAL
Air India with six points topped the pool and along with second placed CAG (Comptroller & Audit General), who had earlier defeated RCF 4-2, with 3 points progressed to the quarter-finals from this pool.
The young, spirited RCF outfit did well to match their more experienced opponents especially in the first period and conceded just one goal which was scored by Birendra Lakra in the 14th minute. Despite that setback, RCF fought on gamely and had their forwards been a bit sharper upfront and capitalised on the opportunities during this period, they could have put the airmen under pressure.
However, after surviving a couple of scares, Air India finally came good in the second half to take complete control over the proceedings. Within 10 minutes after the restart, Sameer Dad neatly trapped Arjun Halappa’s pass on the edge of the circle and coolly beat goalkeeper Karan Thakur with a firm hit and two minutes later Vikram Pillay from the left slotted home from an acute angle to double the lead. Bishan Singh fired home the fourth goal to round of the tally in the 56th minute. RCF got a consolation goal through Mayur Patil late in the game.
Later in the evening, Western Railway came up with a strong second half performance scoring seven goals in this 35-minute period to steamroll past Hockey Bhopal by a 8-1 margin in crucial Pool-C match. The teams were tied 1-1 at the end of the first half.
Western and Indian Navy who had shared honours in a 4-4 draw are through to the quarter-finals. The railwaymen finished in first position and Navy who had defeated Hockey Bhopal 4-2, took the second spot. Amit Rohidas and Malak Singh both scored two goals each while Manjinder Singh, Chinlensana Singh, Jaikaran and Stanley Minz chipped in with one goal each to complete the rout. Hockey Bhopal who had shown early promise managed just one goal scored by Abhey Kumar in the first half.
Results – Pool-B: Air India 4 (Birendra Lakra 14th, Sameer Dad 45th, Vikram Pillay 47th, Bishan Singh 56th) beat Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers 1 (Mayur Patil 69th).
Pool-C: Western Railway 8 (Amit Rohidas 7th, 43rd, Manjinder Singh 36th, Malak Singh 41st, 48th, Chinlensena Singh 58th, Jaikaran 65th, Stanley Minz 67th) beat Hockey Bhopal 1 (Abhey Kumar 9th).