MUMBAI, HARYANA IN FINAL

Gursewvak stars for Mumbai

BHOPAL: Haryana fashioned their maiden entry into the
championship round and set up a title clash with Mumbai
following convincing wins in the semi-finals of the 63rd
Rangaswamy Cup Senior National Hockey Championship at the
floodlit Aishbagh Astroturf Stadium, Bhopal on Friday.

In the first semi-finals, defender Gursev Singh fired in
two crucial goals to steer Mumbai, as the former champions
routed Chandigarh 3-0, while Haryana pipped four-time
runners-up Tamil Nadu 2-1 in the second semi-final.

Man of the match Gursev scored the first two goals in the
4th and 63rd minutes and forward Jayesh Jadhav added the
third in the 67th, all off penalty corners.

Haryana, who dominated the match, opened their account in
the 37th minute through Naveen Antil’s field goal and
added the match-winner in the second half off a 57th minute
penalty stroke scored by Kulbhushan Vashisht.

Tamil Nadu scored in the 45th minute when R. Ashok found
the target off a penalty corner.

Mumbai got off to a dream start, putting the pressure early
on the opposition when Manish Yadav, who was in front of the
goal, failed to trap a Laxman Rao pass in the third minute.
But to their delight, they earned their first penalty corner
in the next minute and defender Gursev Singh found the net
off goalkeeper Harjeet Singh’s pads.

A full strength Chandigarh, looking for their maiden entry
into the championship round, came back into the match by the
end of the first quarter and earned two scoring
opportunities in quick succession, though both went
abegging.

On the first occasion, Gaganjeet failed to connect a cross
from the right while in front of goal in the 13th minute,
and defender Gagandeep Jr’s firm grounder off their first
penalty corner was brilliantly saved on the goalline by Amit
Gowda.

With a 1-0 advantage at half time, Mumbai kicked off the
second half like they did the first and held possession soon
after resumption.

The speedy Vikram Yadav should have found the target in the
41st minute but an alert custodian Harjeet padded the ball
away to safety. Harjeet effected another save four minutes
later while foiling Gyanendra Pandey.

In between, Chandigarh’s Harmanpreet and Deepanshu
Bhargav missed the target by a whisker off their third
penalty corner that would have kept their hopes alive and
set the tone for an exciting finish.

But Gursev made it safe for Mumbai with his second goal off
their third penalty corner in the 63rd minute and Jayesh
Jadhav sealed victory three minutes from the end off the
fourth and last penalty corner.

Saturday: 7 p.m. Chandigarh vs TN (Hardlines, 63rd National
Hockey Championship, Aishbagh Stadium, Bhopal)