Delhi Wizards off to a winning start

NEW DELHI: Skipper Rajpal Singh led from the front as Delhi Wizards downed the fighting Karnataka Lions 3-2 for a winning start in the World Series Hockey at the National Stadium on Friday.

It seemed all but over for Lions after the second quarters when they were trailing 2-0, but the team led by veteran Arjun Halappa rallied superbly to level the score, their first goal coming on a pass from veteran Dhanraj Pillay. However, Rajpal sealed the issue for the hosts with a fine field goal in the dying minutes.

Rajpal has come into this tournament with a point to prove. He was peeved for being ignored for the Olympic qualifiers which the hosts won a few days back. He played with a lot of fire in an apparent attempt to prove to the world that he’s in perfect shape to play at the highest level. He tried hard to show with his performance that there’s nothing wrong with his fitness, which was cited as one of the reasons for his omission from the qualifiers.

In tandem with fellow striker, Pakistan’s Shakeel Abbasi, Rajpal created a lot of pressure on the rival defence. Their repeated onslaught helped the side earn a penalty corner which was converted by Vikramjeet Singh in the second minute of the match. Abbasi’ struck 17 minutes later and made it 2-0 for the hosts.

Mercurial striker Pillay was clearly a shadow of his old self at the age of 43, but that did not deter him from helping his side reduce the margin in the 36th minute. A perfect pass ended with Jarnail Singh slamming home their first goal. Ravipal Singh’s strike in the 48th minute ensured a close finish.

Rajpal, however, had other ideas. The striker got a soft ball inside the ‘D’ and slammed home the winner.

Lions, to some extent, had themselves to blame for the defeat. They missed out on scoring from several opportunities, including a series of penalty corners towards the end of the match.