PNB defeated Chandigarh XI

CHANDIGARH: Punjab National Bank defeated Chandigarh XI 3-2 in the opening match of Mahavir Real Estate All India Sahibzada Ajit Singh Hockey Champion Trophy at Olympian Pithipal Singh Astroturf in Punjab Agricultural University on Wednesday.

This six-day hockey tourney is being organised by Sports Council of Ludhiana from March 9-14. Eight teams in men’s category and four from women’s category would be competing against each other for a prize money of Rs 4.25 lakh.

In men’s category, a total of eight teams, Air India ( Mumbai), ONGC (Mumbai), Punjab National Bank ( New Delhi), Punjab and Sindh Bank (New Delhi), Chandigarh XI, Namdhari XI, Indian Air Force and Indian Army would be competing.

In women’s category, a total of four teams, Central Railways (Mumbai), Gwalior Academy, Chandigarh XI and Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala) would be pitched against each other.

In the first match of the day, PNB defeated Chandigarh XI 3-2. For PNB, Navdeep Singh opened the account by scoring a field goal in the seventh minute of the match. Gurjant Singh of Chandigarh XI equalled the score with a field goal in the 25th minute of the match and later Gagandeep Singh of Chandigarh XI made the score 2-1 in the 31st minute of the match. Gagandeep scored this goal through a penalty corner. In second half of the match, Damandeep of PNB scored two goals, a field goal in 65th minute and a penalty corner converted into goal in the 68th minute. At the end of this match, PNB defeated Chandigarh XI by 3-2.

In the second match (men’s category), ONGC defeated Delhi XI 4-1. The first goal of the match was scored by Vikas Topo of ONGC in the 18th minute of the match. Diwakar Rana of ONGC soon brought the score to 2-0 by converting a penalty corner into goal. The third goal for ONGC was scored by Pramod Kumar in 52nd minute. Manish from Delhi XI scored the only goal for his team in the 57th minute of the match. Later, Diwakar Rana scored his second goal of the match in 64th minute. He scored through a penalty corner.

ONGC would be pitched against Indian Air Force, Punjab and Sindh Bank against Punjab National Bank, Namdhari XI against Delhi XI and Chandigarh XI against Singal XI,” he informed. This tournament would be played in league-cum-knockout basis and the winner of men category would be given a prize money of Rs 2 lakh, while the first runners up would be given Rs 1 lakh as prize money. The winner of the women’s category would be given a prize money of Rs 75,000 and first runners up would get Rs 50,000. Besides, they would also be given Prof

Nirpjit Kaur Gill Memorial Trophy by her family members.

In a first of its kind, the best player of the match would get Rs 1,500 as prize money.