Western Railway, Mumbai produced a spirited performance as they rallied splendidly to put it across Punjab National Bank (PNB), Delhi 3-1 in the final and emerge champions of the 12th PMC Bank-Guru Tegh Bahadur All India Gold Cup Hockey Championship, organized by MHAL (Mumbai Hockey Association Limited) and played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate, on Friday.
Champs WesternRailway team
PNB snatched the lead through Arjun Antil in the 20th minute before Western replied back with three goals through Malak Singh in the 32nd minute, Rajan Kandulina 40th minute and Ayyappa in the 53rd minute to clinch the top honours.
Western Railway received the Guru Tegh Bahadur Trophy and a cash prize of Rs 2 lakhs from Chief Guest, Shri Waryam Singh, Chairman, PMC Bank, while PNB received the runners-up trophy and a cash award of Rs 1 lakh from Shri Mangha Singh Bakshi, President, MHAL.
In the summit encounter, Western played a patient waiting game as their opponents adopted a defensive approach in the first half. The railwaymen were unable to break through the tight marking rival defence initially and conceded the initiative as PNB against the run of play took the lead in the 20th minute. The goal came about from a well-constructed move started by Gagandeep Singh who worked in tandem with Ravindra Tewatia to open up the Western defence. Gagandeep after picking up the return pass from Tewatia relayed the ball to Sumit Toppo but his try deflected off a defenders stick to Arjun Antil who tapped in from close.
Western took that setback in their stride and gradually came back into the game. They managed to find the equalizer just before half-time through Malak Singh. In the 32nd minute Western’s full back Sanklap Raghav with a firm long hit found the stick of Malak who trapped the ball swirled around and fired a rasping reverse hit past a host of rival defenders and goalkeeper Jasbir Singh to bring the smile on the faces of his teammates.
In the second half, Western forced the pace and dictated terms. They kept probing and scored twice during this period to turn the match in their favour. First in the 40th minute Ayyappa with a smart back hit caught the entire PNB defence and goalkeeper on the wrong foot. The ball landed perfectly for an unmarked Kandulina who was left with the simple task of tapping into an open goal.
Western maintained the momentum and increased the lead 13 minute later when Manjinder Singh with a measure forward pass found Ayyappa in the open and the last mentioned hammered home from close to secure their win.
Western’s young goalkeeper Karan Thakur, who had a good day in office was named ‘Best goalkeeper’. Karan’s teammate Ayyappa won the ‘Best forward’ award while PNB’s Rajwinder Singh and Banmali Xess, bagged the ‘Best defender’ and ‘Best midfielder’ awards respectively. They all received a cash prize of Rs 5,000 each. Western Railway’s defender and drag flick specialist Amit Rohidas won the ‘Player of the tournament’ award and a purse of Rs 8,000.
Final results: Western Railway 2 (Malak Singh 32nd, Rajan Kandulina 29th, Ayyappa 53rd) beat Punjab National Bank 1 (Arjun Antil 20th).