India Colts emerges champion
GURGAON: A golden goal by Jai Karan clinched the title for India Colts as it beat Bharat Petroleum 3-2 in the final of the Jindal Steel 45th Nehru hockey tournament at the Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday.
In a contest where Bharat Petroleum was able to infuse life into the proceedings with goals that jolted the Colts out of stupour, there was no doubt about the relative merits of the two teams.
The young boys in the Colts squad were quite sharp and their energy ensured that the team emerged victor, as expected lines, though it was held 1-1 at halftime and 2-2 at the end of the regulation period.
For the connoisseurs and the few hundred spectators assembled at the arena, the match did not rise to expected levels, owing to the long spells of action without direction, but the goals did make it a memorable affair.
It was India Colts that shot ahead in the first minute as Danish Mujtaba scored out of a melee.
Sharp response
To its credit, Bharat Petroleum showed the urgency and forced a series of penalty corners in response to the goal. It succeeded in converting its fourth, in the 22nd minute, as Gurpreet Singh dragged the ball home on to the board.
Into the second half, India Colts pressed harder, though the repeated raids ended up being ably thwarted by the Petroleum goalkeeper Swinder Singh.
Skipper Diwakar Ram converted the team’s second penalty corner, with a shoulder high drag that beat the defence, 13 minutes into the second half.
The problem with India Colts was that it tended to relax a bit up front and tried to bolster its defence every time it struck a goal, and that opened the avenues for Bharat Petroleum.
After a couple of abortive attempts, especially by Tushar Khandekar who could not beat the goalkeeper after doing all the hard work, Petroleum struck the equaliser as Amar Aiyamma deflected a crisp shot from Gurpreet Singh.
Falling back
Both the teams played out time thereafter, though it had to be conceded that Bharat Petroleum was quite sharp in thwarting Colts’ fourth penalty corner, as goalkeeper Swinder Singh deflected a sharp strike from Diwakar Ram.
Thereafter, when it was just about time for the whistle to signal the second half of extra time, Jai Karan made a smart connection, even as the Bharat Petroleum players rushed to the umpire, trying in vain to establish that there was no touch to the goal.
The champion team was presented Rs. 200,000 apart from the Nehru Gold Trophy and the Japan Trophy.
Bharat Petroleum, runner-up for the second year in succession, was presented Rs. 100,000 and the Nehru Silver Cup.
The champion last year, Punjab and Sind Bank that beat Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) XI 2-1, following two goals by Navpreet Singh including the golden goal, in the match for the third place, was awarded Rs. 50,000.