UP Wizards upset defending champions Ranchi Rhinos
Ranchi Rhinos started their HIL 2014 journey with an upset after losing their first match 3-2 against UP Wizards in their home ground. Ranchi Rhinos had won the HIL title last year.
Huge home crowd and their non-stop egging support gave the Rhinos much needed fillip, but at the end lost venom to lose the match to a better team.
Though Ranchi managed to strike an early goal in the 4th minute, the lead was equalized within 5 minutes when Nikkin scored the equalizer for UP Wizards.
Even the hawkish television cameras could not though find exactly whether Mandeep Singh did touch the ball before it leapt into the goal, but as ironic would have it when he did touch in the last quarter and the ball went it appeared from back end of the stick, not lost sight of by the umpire!
The scoreboard remained static for a long time until Justin Ross of Rhinos scored in the 46th minute. The lead this time also was equalized within 5 minutes after drag-flicker and captain Raghunath scored the second goal for Wizards off a Penalty Corner.
The turning point in the match was however the goal of Pradeep Mor in the 63rd minute when he hit straight into the nets from just inside the D. The Rhinos then looked desperate and tried to equalize. But strong defense of the Wizards ensured no further damage.
For his classic goal, Pradeep Mor of UP Wizards was awarded Goal of the Match while their goalkeeper Subramanium Kumar of Malaysia got the coveted Hero Man of the Match.