Indian Navy, Mumbai and South Central Railway (SCR), Secunderabad won their respective semi-final encounters and will clash for the top honours in the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited organized 54th All India Bombay Gold Cup hockey championship 2020.
The Mumbai ‘Super League’ and Inter-Services champions Indian Navy banked on their vast experience and had to bring out their best to quell the spirited challenge from debutants and youthful Coorg XI, Mumbai by coasting to a 3-0 win in an exciting and well-contested second semi-final match at the MHAL stadium, Churchgate on Tuesday.
Earlier, SCR produced another superb performance to shut the doors on defending champions Indian Oil, New Delhi by comfortably cruising to 5-2 win in the first semi-final encounter.
The fancied Indian Navy did not enjoy smooth sailing as the young Coorgi side put up a clever tactical approach. They rotated the ball around to hold possession and did not allow the fitter sailors to play their usual attacking game.
The Coorgis were also quick to make quick counters but after breaking through they were unable to deliver the crucial knockout punch. They also defended well and goalkeeper A.C. Subramani had an outstanding day under the bar. He showed brilliant anticipation and made some fine saves and denied Navy from converting any of the five penalty corners they earned.
The Naval outfit broke the Coorg resistance in the ninth minute when Ajinkya Jadhav was allowed the space to score the first goal. Navy after much probing finally scored their second through Pawan Rajbhar in the 41st minute before Aakib Raahim pushed home the third in the 52nd minute clinch victory.
Earlier, the Southern Railway outfit did not take much time to build up steam and charge ahead scoring three quick goals in as many minutes. In the sixth minute, Sheshe Gowda struck from the first penalty corner and a minute later, P.R. Aiyappa doubled the lead from a field effort before Pratap Lakra converted from their second penalty corner to snatch a 3-0 advantage.
Indian Oil threatened to fight back, but could only manage two goals. First, Sumit Kumar scored a field goal on the stroke of half-time and later, Talwinder Singh scored from an indirect penalty corner drill to cut the deficit, 2-3.
The Secundrebad side regained the momentum in the fourth quarter and scored two more goals. Lovepreet Singh scored in the 50th minute to increase lead and after Indian Oil decided to replace their goalkeeper with an extra player, Aiyappa scored his second and the team’s fifth goal to complete a deserving win.
The final on Wednesday will commence at 4.00 pm.
Results – Semi-finals: Indian Navy, Mumbai 3 (Ajinkya Jadhav, Pawan Rajbhar, aakib Raahim) beat Coorg XI, Mumbai 0.
South Central Railway, Secundrebad 5 (P.R. Aiyappa 2, Sheshe Gowda, Pratap Lakra, Lovepreet Singh) beat Indian Oil, New Delhi 2 (Sumit Kumar, Talwinder Singh).