ALL INDIA GURU TEGH BAHADUR CUP

Mumbai: There was a time when titles, or at least a top three finish, simply refused to leave them. Any national level tournament, and Punjab Police’s name was sure to be there among the last four. Invariably, always. That was then.

Times have changed. Like Indian hockey , their stocks too seem to have taken a beating of late. And they learnt it the hard way on a balmy Thursday afternoon on the patched-up astro turf at the Mahindra Stadium here. A 1-2 loss to Indian Navy in their very first match of the All India Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial Gold Cup tournament meant they were packing their bags even before they could unpack them properly.

“It’s the first time ever we have lost to a team like Indian Navy. It’s shocking, but I take all the blame. We didn’t deserve to win,’’ said Manpreet Singh, coach of Punjab Police.

Of course, it didn’t help that half of their players were injured, and with a virtually empty bench, there wasn’t much Manpreet could do. “My boys tried their best. They played despite the pain. But you can’t do much in such situations. I couldn’t even substitute my players, because there was no bench strength. Considering that we were playing Indian Navy, we thought that we would win easily and then get some rest before the next match,’’ he explained.

Indian Navy, who stunned fancied Hyderabad XI 4-3 in their last match, sped to a 2-0 lead even before the Punjab cops could settle down, Surendra Kumar converting a penalty corner in the 18th minute and AU Haque’s solo effort yielding the second four minutes later. The cops reduced the margin through Jugraj Singh’s drag flick in the 30th minute, and that was it. They created many chances and spilled them thereafter, to cap their miserable outing.

Clearly, they lacked matchfitness. Former India player Jugraj, who lost his blooming career to a car accident five years ago, looked the fittest among the gingerly-moving Punjab players. And with his teammates failing to force corners, he too was handicapped.