Indian Navy goalkeeper B. Sanjay and midfielder and drag-flick specialist Jugraj Singh played stellar roles in steering the sailors snatch a thrilling and tight 9-8 victory via the tie-breaker penalty shootout in a pulsating semi-final match of the 14th PMC Bank-All India Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup hockey tournament and played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate on Monday.
An Air India attacker is surrounded by Indian Navy defenders during the semi-final match of the 14th PMC Bank-All India Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup hockey tournament.
Both Navy and the young Air India outfits dished out a pleasing brand of attacking hockey and the match witnessed an exciting contest, which finished in a high-scoring 5-all draw.
In the crucial penalty shootout duel, Navy goalkeeper Sanjay made two vital saves as he foiled the attempts from Rajkumar Pal and skipper V.S. Vinaya to give the sailors the advantage. Rajat Sharma did not let down his goalkeeper Sanjay and his teammates as he with a firm reverse hit beat Air India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh from the final attempt to seal Navy’s victory and confirm their place in the final.
Earlier, Jugraj had a very successful outing as he scored from four of the five penalty corners they earned. Ajinkya Jadhav got one of the five goals for the Sailors. For Air India, junior international Raheel Mohd scored two goals, while Sharda Nand Tiwari, Joginder Singh and Arjun Sharma’s late equalizer kept them in the fight.
However, in the penalty shootout, Navy managed to score through Ajinkya Jadhav, Pratik Singh, Pawan Rajbhar and Rajat Sharma, while Air India could only convert three through Uttam Singh, Jaspreet Singh and Abharan Sudev.
In the second semi-final, Central Secretariat, Delhi edged past Central Railway, Mumbai 4-3 in a keenly contested clash.
Rajendra Pawar opened the account for Central Railway when he successfully converted a penalty corner in the first half. Minutes later, Central Railways skipper Yuvraj Walmiki scored a field goal taking advantage of a defensive lapse by the opposition. At the half time the Mumbai team enjoyed a 2-0 lead.
After the change of ends, Central Secretariat reduced the deficit to 2-1 after Shariq scored via a penalty. And then Jayesh Jadhav pumped in another goal to make it 2-2.
As the match seemed to be heading for another penalty shootouts, Central Secretariat scored two quick goals via Aman and Jayesh Jadhav to storm back and take a 4-2 lead. Put up a determined fight, Central Railways pulled back with Rajendra Jadhav scoring his second goal of the match to make it again 3-4.
The final will be played on Tuesday at 4.00 PM.
Results – Semi-finals: Indian Navy, Mumbai 9 (Jugraj Singh 24th, 38th, 48th, 62nd, Ajinkya Jadhav 34th & PS, Pratik Singh-PS, Pawan Rajbhar-PS, Rajat Sharma-PS) beat Air India, Delhi 8 (Raheel Mohd. 20th, 46th, Sharda Nand Tiwari 44th, Joginder Singh 52nd, Arjun Sharma 69th, Uttam Singh-PS, Jaspreet Singh-PS, Abharan Sudev-PS) via the penalty shootout. Full-time: 5-5.
Central Secretariat, Delhi 4 (Shariq 43rd, Jayesh Jadhav 48th, 68th, Aman 67th) beat Central Railway, Mumbai 3 (Rajendra Pawar 7th, 67th, Yuvraj Walmiki 9th).