Local challengers, Western Railway and Indian Navy bowed out at the quarter-final stage of the Union Bank of India & IDBI Bank-51st All India Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, organized by the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) under the auspices of Hockey India.
Indian Navy attacker Ved Prakash (2nd left) hits home the team’s first goal against CAG during their quarter-final match of the MHAL organized 51st All India Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament.
Former champions Western Railway suffered a 3-5 defeat at the hands of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in the second quarter-final match played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium on Saturday evening.
Earlier in the first quarter-final, last year’s runners-up CAG (Comptroller & Auditors General) of India sneaked past Indian Navy 4-3 via the tie-breaker penalty shootout after the teams were locked 2-2 at the end of regulation time of the insipid contest.
Punjab National Bank showed good understanding and better teamwork as they went on to unsettle their Mumbai opponents in a lively and fast-paced encounter. Western gained the initial advantage when Amit Rohidas converted from a penalty corner in the 20th minute. But, their joy was short-lived as the visitors restored parity through Gagandeep Singh Jr. who also scored from a short corner and they later went ahead when Samsher Singh Jr. scored from a snap effort in the 26th minute.
Western managed to find the equalizer through Manpreet Singh in the very next minute, but Shamsher was once again on target to give PNB the lead in the 30th minute.
In the second period, PNB struck two quick goals from smart moves through Damandeep Singh and Gurjinder Singh to open up a commanding 5-2 lead. Western tried their best to put up a fight but could only manage one more goal through another penalty corner conversion by Rohidas in the final minute of the match.
Earlier in the first quarter-final, last year’s runners-up CAG (Comptroller & Auditors General) of India sneaked past Indian Navy 4-3 via the tie-breaker penalty shootout after the teams were locked 2-2 at the end of an insipid contest.
CAG started with a flourish by taking a first minute lead through Mohd. Naeemuddin, who scored from the first goal-bound move of the match. The sailors fought on and managed to get the equalizer when Ved Prakash scored from a penalty corner in the 19th minute.
The second half was a tame affair as both teams did not show any sort of urgency or purpose in their approach. But in the final 10 minutes CAG pushed hard and did well to regain the lead when Nitin Thimmaiah latched on Deepanshu Bhargav’s through pass before pushing past goalkeeper Kuldeep Singh (Jr) in the 61st minute. However, CAG let their guard down and allowed Navy to once again draw level with Prakash scoring his and the team’s second goal and to force the penalty shootout.
In the tie-breaker CAG successfully scored through Thimmaiah and Gurpratap Singh. Navy could only score through Amit Goswami, while the other four attempts were foiled by CAG goalkeeper Mrinal Choubey who had a good day in office.
Results – CAG 4 (Mohd. Naeemuddin 1st, Nitin Thimmaiah 61st & TB, Gurpratap Singh TB) beat Indian Navy 3 (Ved Prakash 19th, 64th, Amit Goswami TB).
Punjab National Bank 5 (Gagandeep Singh Jr. 23rd, Shamsher Singh Jr. 26th, 30th, Damandeep Singh 52nd, Gurjinder Singh 53rd) beat Western Railway 3 (Amit Rohidas 20th, 70th, Manpreet Singh 27th).
Sunday schedule (quarter-final matches):
2.30 pm: Central Railway, Mumbai vs South Central Railway, Secundrabad.
4.30 pm: Punjab & Sind Bank, Delhi vs Indian Oil, Mumbai.