Pune (Maharashtra), 23 April 2015: The top teams fought hard to register win against their respective opponents today at the 5th Senior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Men) Div- A being played at Pune, Maharashtra. In Pool C, Hockey Maharashtra registered a convincing win of 3-1 against Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu and Hockey Haryana outplayed Services Sports Control Board by 5-3. In the Pool D match, Hockey Punjab edged past Food Corporation of India by a narrow margin of 5-4 and Railway Sports Promotion Board defeated The Mumbai Hockey Association Limited by 4-1. In Pool A, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy beat Hockey Odisha by 5-1 and Air India Sports Promotion Board (AISPB) thrashed Hockey Andhra Pradesh by a huge margin of 8-0.

In Pool C, Hockey Maharashtra registered a convincing win of 3-1 against Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu going on to register a win in their name. It was Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu who scored the first goal of the match in the 23rd minute when captain M Vinod Rayar scored through a field effort and taking the lead in the game by 1-0. Trailing the game, Hockey Maharashtra bounced back in the game in the second half when a penalty stroke awarded to the team was converted by Captain Vishal Pillay and equalising the game. Motivated by the goal, Hockey Maharashtra increased the pressure on the opponents and got a penalty corner to their name in the 49th minute. Vishal Pillay yet again ensured that the ball found the nets and they took the lead in the game. The team scored their third goal in the 55th minute and this time it was Rajendra Ekka who the job for Hockey Maharashtra and they went on to won the game 3-1.

In Pool C match, Hockey Haryana outplayed Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) by 5-3 in hard-fought battle. It was Haryana who scored the first goal in the 16th minute when they earned a penalty corner and Gagandeep Singh converted it perfectly in the first goal of the match. However, SSCB came back strongly when Binay Bhengra sneaked into opponent’s half and scored a brilliant goal to equalise the score-line 1-1. With this goal, SSCB maintained their attacking game and managed to earn another penalty corner in 41st minute. This time Lovedeep Singh took the shot and converted it effectively to take a vital 2-1 lead against Haryana. After conceding two goals back-to-back, Haryana players counter attacked on their opponents and Gurjant Singh scored a spectacular goal in 45thminute for his team. After three minutes (48th minute), his team-mate Arjun extended stormed into opponent’s D and hit the ball hard into the goal-box to extend the lead by 3-2. SSCB stroke back again and this time Davinder Singh dribbled-past into opponent’s half to score a marvellous goal in the 51st minute. With the goal, SSCB equalised the score again and fighting hard to finish the match at 3-3. However, Haryana players kept on attacking on SSCB side and tried to create maximum opportunities to score. In the 52nd minute, Mandeep Antil out-foxed the defenders and scored the fourth goal for his team. After four minutes (56th minute), Jagwant Singh scored the fifth goal and sealed the victory for his team. After a neck-to-neck battle, Haryana registered a thumping 5-2 victory over SSCB.

In the Pool D match, Hockey Punjab edged past Food Corporation of India (FCI) by a narrow margin of 5-4 a high-intense tussle. It was FCI who scored the first goal of the match in the 10th minute when Munish Rana sneaked into opponent’s D and sent the ball in the net. However, their joy was short-lived as Punjab’s skipper Gurmail Singh scored a brilliant equaliser through a penalty corner conversion after few seconds. FCI fought back again and managed to earn a penalty shoot-out in 45th minute, which was perfectly converted by their skipper Surinder Kumar and took the lead of 2-1. After conceding the goal, Punjab players counter attacked on the opponent’s half and Vikrajit Singh and Dupinder Deep Singh scored two back-to-back goals in 47th and 48th minutes respectively. With these two quick goals, Punjab led the match again by 3-2. In the 52nd minute, FCI’s Ganendrajit Ningombam stormed into Punjab’s defence-line and hit the ball hard into the goal-box to equalise the score again. After three minutes (55th minute), Punjab’s Parvinder Singh sneaked into the opponent’s half and scored a brilliant goal to extend the lead by 4-3. In the next minute (56th minute), FCI earned a crucial penalty corner and Harjit Singh converted into his team’s fourth goal, levelling the score-line 4-4. After FCI’s goal, both the teams fought fiercely to score the winning goal and charged each other with their aggressive game. It was Punjab’s Jaskaran Singh who entered the D in the 60th minute and smashed the ball hard into the goal-box without giving any chance to the goal-keeper. With this winning goal, Punjab won post a striking 5-4 victory over Food Corporation of India (FCI).

In the fourth match, Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) defeated The Mumbai Hockey Association Limited by 4-1 in a one-sided match of Pool D. It was Mumbai who scored the first goal of the match in 18th minute when substitute Mayur Patil out-foxed the opponent’s defenders and sent the ball into the net to take the early lead. After conceding the goal, Railway men counter-attacked on the opponents and scored goals in the regular intervals. Yuvraj Walmiki scored the first goal for his team in the 37th minute and equalise the score-line by 1-1. After a intense fight between the two teams, Railways’ Malak Singh extended the lead by scoring second goal of the match in the 50thminute. After two minutes (52nd minute), Railways managed to earn a penalty corner and Jasjeet Singh converted it perfectly in the third goal for the team. In the next minute, Yuvraj scored his second goal and helped his team to register a thumping 4-1 win over Mumbai Hockey.

In Pool A match between Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy and Hockey Odisha it was the former who won the match 5-1. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy looking for the initial goal scored their first goal in the 19th minute as Tarun Adhikari scored through a field goal. Aamir Khan looking at doubling the lead for his team successfully scored by capitalising on a good pass in the D. With a lead of 2-0 at half time, Vikas Choudhary scored a brace in the 41st and 44th minute taking Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy score to 4-0. Hockey Odisha opened their scorecard in the 54th minute through Dilip Toppo but MP Hockey Academy replied with Vikas’ marvellous hat-trick goal in the 60thminute. With this goal, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy won the match 5-1.

In the last match of the day, Air India Sports Promotion Board (AISPB) thrashed Hockey Andhra Pradesh by a huge margin of 8-0 in the Pool A. AISPB opened their account in the 2nd minute of the match when Shivendra Singh scored a brilliant goal and gave an early lead to his team. After seven minutes (9th minute), Arman Qureshi extended the lead when his smashed the ball in the goal-box to take the score-line 2-0. In the 17th minute, AISPB managed to earn a penalty corner, which was effectively converted by Ajmer Singh. After three goals, AISPB played with full force and P.R. Aiyappa and Vikas Vishnu Pillay scored two back-to-back goals in 22nd and 25th minutes respectively to take the score-line to 5-0. In 32nd minutes, Arman scored his second goal after he sneaked into opponent’s half and sent the ball in net. Continuing the aggressive attacks, AISPB earned another penalty corner in 39th minute, which was perfectly converted by Gaganpreet Singh and took the score-line to 7-0. In 55th minute, they earned another penalty corner and this time again Arman converted it into his hat-trick goal. AISPB won the match with a huge margin of eight goals against Hockey Andhra Pradesh.

Results of the day:

Pool C – Hockey Maharashtra 3 Vishal Pillay (46 min-PS, 49 min-PC) Rajendra Ekka (55 min-FG) vs Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 1 M. Vinod Rayar (23 min-FG)

Pool D – Hockey Haryana 5 Gagandeep Singh (16min-PC), Gurjant Singh (45min-FG), Arjun (48min-FG), Mandeep Antil (52min-FG), Jagwant Singh (56min-FG) vs Services Sports Control Board 3 Binay Bhingera (35min-FG), Lovedeep Singh (41min-PC), Davinder Singh (51min-PC)

Pool D – Hockey Punjab 5 Gurmail Singh (39min-PC), Vikrajit SIngh (47min-FG), Dupinder Deep Singh (48min-FG), Parvinder SIngh (55min-FG), Jaskaran Singh (60min-FG) vs Food Corporation of India 4 Munish Rana (10min-FG), Surinder Kumar (45min-PS), Ganendrajit Ningombam (52min-FG), Harjit Singh (56min-PC)

Pool D – Railway Sports Promotion Board 4 Yuvraj Walmiki (37min-FG, 53min-FG), Malak Singh (50min-FG), Jasjeet Singh (52min-FG) vs The Mumbai Hockey Association Limited 1 Mayur Patil (18min-FG)

Pool A – Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 5 Tarun Adhikari (19min- FG), Aamir Khan (23min- FG), Vikas Choudhary (41min- FG, 44min- FG, 60min-FG) vs Hockey Odisha 1 Dilip Toppo (54min- PC)

Pool A – Air India Sports Promotion Board 8 Shivendra Singh (2min- FG), Arman Qureshi (9min-FG, 32min-FG, 55min-PC), Ajmer Singh (17min-PC), P.R. Aiyappa (22min-FG), Vikas Vishnu Pillay (25min-FG), Gaganpreet Singh (39min-PC) vs Hockey Andhra Pradesh 0