Central Railway and Western Railway recorded easy semi-final victories to set up clash in the Women’s Open final of the the inaugural ‘Savio Super 5s’ hockey tournament, organized by the Savio Hockey Club & Academy (SHC&A), under the auspices of Hockey Maharashtra, and played at the St. Dominic Savio High School ground, Andheri on Saturday.
Formidable Central Railway charged to a 5-1 win against Sports Authority of India in the first semi-final. Feli Khiangte with a hat-trick of goals was the star of Central’s win while Preety Dubey scored two to complete the margin of victory. Chitrali Gawade netted the lone goal for the young SAI girls.
Later, Western Railway proved too strong for a young upcoming Kids XI, Pune romping to an emphatic 8-0 victory. For Western Rakhi Prajapati and Anupa Barla both played the lead roles with three goals each while Lily Chanu chipped in with two complete the win.
Earlier in the Veteran’s semi-finals, Gavin Vandrine played a stellar role in steering Sea View SC to a come from behind 2-1 win against Bombay Republicans in a well-fought match. After Valerian Picardo opened the scoring for Republicans, Vandrine scored two crucial goals, one in each half to seal Sea View’s passage to the final.
Later, Stanley Fernandes scored a late winner as Mumbai Raje snatched a narrow 1-0 win against Maharaja in a keenly contested second semi-final.
Results: Women’s Open – semi-finals: Central Railway 5 (Feli Khiangte 3, Preety Dubey 2) beat Sports Authority of India 1 (Chitrali Gawade);
Western Railway 8 (Rakhi Prajapati 3, Anupa Barla 3, Lily Chanu 2) beat Kids XI, Pune 0.
Veteran’s – semi-finals: Sea View SC 2 (Gavin Vandrine 2) beat Bombay Republicans 1 (Valerian Picardo);
Mumbai Raje 1 (Stanley Fernandes) beat Maharaja’s 0.