Central Railway riding on Yuvraj Walmiki’s twin strikes charged to a convincing 6-2 win against a lacklustre Indian Navy in a qualifying (phase-I) league match of the 11th All India Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, organised by the MHAL (Mumbai Hockey Association Limited) and played at the MHAL Stadium, Churchgate on Friday.
Central who enjoyed a slender 2-1 half-time lead, scored their other goals through Narad Bahadur, Ajaz Qureshi, Victo Singh and Reuben Kedari, while Navy got both their goals through Rana Pratap’s efforts.
Yuvraj Walmiki
The sailors started with a bang and in the very fifth minute struck the opening goal through Pratap’s penalty corner conversion. Central Railway fought back and drew level when Bahadur found the target from a penalty corner in the 14th minute before Walmiki added the second and got his first goal from another penalty corner in the 31st minute.
After the change of ends the railwaymen netted two more goals in quick succession with Qureshi scoring in the 54th minute and Victo Singh adding the fourth a minute later.
Navy managed to reduce the deficit with Pratap scoring for a field attempt but Central once again replied strongly with two more goals in as many minutes in the final moments of the match. Walmiki scored his second in the 68th minute and in the very next minute Kedari hit home the sixth goal.
This was the first win for Central who were held 3-3 by Union Bank of India in the first match of the 3-team qualifying tournament (phase-I).
Navy will take on Union Bank in the concluding league match on Sunday, August 16 at 4.00 pm. Two teams will qualify for the main tournament which will commence from Tuesday, August 18.
Results: Central Railway 6 (Yuvraj Walmiki 2, Narad Bahadur, Ajaz Qureshi, Victo Singh, Reuben Kedari) beat Indian Navy 2 (Rana Pratap 2).