Ave Maria SC combined well as a unit and dashing centre-forward Vinay Walmiki brilliantly led from the front by registering a fine hat-trick, which was the highlight of their 6-1 victory against hosts Wellingdon Catholic Gymkhana (WCG) in a Men Open match, for the Victor D’Mello Memorial Trophy, in the 41st Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana rink hockey tournament, played at the WCG floodlit courts.
Vinay Walmiki
The home team Wellingdon Catholic Gymkhana fought hard but could not put up much of a fight against the superior Ave Maria outfit who scored the other three goals through Vikram Singh who fired home a brace of goals and one from seasoned Girish Pimpale to win by a comfortable margin. Julius Fernandes got the lone goal for the losing side.
In a match between outstation outfits, United Hockey Pune got the better of Coorg XI by a 3-1 margin. Hockey Pune were well-served by Sufiyan Shaikh, Pranay Mane, and Gufran Shaikh, all contributing with a goal each to secure their win, while Coorg XI could only manage a solitary goal through Likhit B.M. effort.
Earlier, in an exciting and well-contested encounter, strong favourites Union Bank of India managed to record a narrow 3-2 victory against a spirited India Rush Orange to earn the full three points. Union Bank worked hard and scored through the efforts of Suraj Shali who got two goals and one from the stick of Vinod Saini which helped seal their win. Amos Mathews and Laxmikant Kawale struck a goal each for the young India Rush team.
However, India Rush Blue produced a strong fighting display and managed to taste success as they recorded a hard-fought 2-1 win over Republicans SC in another close encounter. India Rush found the net through Danroy Fonseca and Het Pawar, while Venkatesh Devekar pulled one back for Republicans.
In the opening match of the day, Customs Red survived a scare from a young talented United Bandra and scraped to a tight 2-1 win. Dharambir Yadav and consistent scorer Vishal Lal scored one each for the winners, while United Bandra reduced the margin of defeat with Cristiano Correia’s strike.
Results – Men Open: Customs Red 2 (Dharambir Yadav, Vishal Lal) beat United Bandra 1 (Cristiano Correia).
India Rush Blue 2 (Danroy Fonseca, Het Pawar) beat Republicans SC 1 (Venkatesh Devekar).
Ave Maria 6 (Vinay Walmiki 3, Vikram Singh 2, Girish Pimpale) beat Wellingdon Catholic Gymkhana 1 (Julius Fernandes).
Union Bank of India 3 (Suraj Shali 2, Vinod Saini) beat India Rush Orange 2 (Amos Mathews, Laxmikant Kawale).
United Hockey Pune 3 (Sufiyan Shaikh, Pranay Mane, Gufran Shaikh) beat Coorg XI 1 (Likhit B.M.).