Liberals Hockey: CRPF edge past J&K Police

The third day of the 36th Liberals All-India hockey tournament in progress at Nabha saw CRPF, New Delhi, march past J&K Police, Jammu, 2-1, while Sports Hostel, Lucknow, swamped Sikh Regimental Centre, Ramgarh Cantonment, 4-1. Hawks Ropar overcame stiff resistance from Western Central Railway, Jabalpur, to win by a solitary goal.

J&K Police failed to maintain their winning run and went down fighting 1-2 to CRPF in a fierce encounter. CRPF forged ahead in the 25th minute through P. Saini who combined with Parmod Kumar to enter the circle and push the ball into the goal. Undaunted, the J&K outfit made a couple of counter-attacks and equalised in the dying seconds of the first half.

CRPF failed to utilise any of the four short-corners earned in quick succession in the last ten minutes of the game. A minute before the end, nippy forward Mandheer Singh scored a fine goal when he dashed into the circle from 25-yard line to give a well-deserved 2-1 win to his team.

Sports Hostel continued their winning streak with a fluent 4-1 victory over SRC Ramgarh. In a fast-paced encounter, SRC scored the first goal in the 47th minute through their full-back, skipper Harvinder Singh, who converted a penalty-corner. E. Khan restored parity in the 54th minute with a solo run from the left flank. The Army men tried to come back into the game but Lucknow blunted their attacks with robust defence.

Sports Hostel stepped up the pace and succeeded in forcing a penalty-stroke in the 65th minute, which was converted by Imran Khan to make the score 2-1The Lucknow lads swarmed the SRC citadel and scored two goals in the 66th and 67th minutes through forward Amit Kumar to post a win.

In the last match of the day Hawks Ropar overcame a spirited WCR, 1-0, the goal being scored by Navjot Singh in the 45th minute.

Tuesday’s fixtures: Air Force, New Delhi vs Sangrur XI (11.30 a.m.); Punjab Police, Jalandhar vs Sports Hostel Lucknow (1.00 p.m.); AOC, Secundrabad vs Hawks Ropar 2.30 p.m.).