Opportunistic goal-scorer Girish Pimpale was in his elements and struck a fine hat-trick to help Ave Maria, Dadar overcome Mumbai Customs 4-3 in a keenly contested Pool-C league match of 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 Friday.
Sneden Mendes got the first goal for Ave Maria before Pimpale fired home the next three to seal their win. Jayesh Jadhav, Dharmvir Singh and Muthana P. were on target for Customs.
Ave Maria maintained their winning momentum as in their second encounter they staved off a late fight back from India Rush Blue to carve out a narrow 8-6 victory. In their third match, they outplayed the inexperienced Savio Hockey Club by charging to 11-2 win and to top the pool and qualify for the quarter-finals.
In another match, Champions Training Centre, Pune romped to a facile 7-2 win against India Rush Orange. Abharan Suden was the leading goal-scorer with five goals while Devindar Walmiki and Tejas Chavan chipped in with one each for the winners. India Rush Orange scored through Guru Prasad and Moses P.
Results –
Men’s Open: Ave Maria SC 8 (Girish Pimpale 2, Shubham Chawre 2, Samir Coutinho 2, Sanket Dhotre 2) beat India Rush Blue 6 (Aryan P, Duane D’Souza, Anmol K, Mario F, Shayne D, Danroy C).
Rink Rebels 2 (Ralph Moraes, Roydon D’Souza) drew with India Rush Grey 2 (Vishal Gupta, Aryan Kamble).
Champions Training Centre 7 (Abharan Suden 5, Devindar Walmiki, Tejas Chavan) beat India Rush Orange 2 (Guru Prasad, Moses P).
Ave Maria SC 4 (Girish Pimpale 3, Sneden Mendes) beat Mumbai Customs 3 (Jayesh Jadhav, Dharmvir Singh, Muthana P).