Navy storm into main draw

Indian Navy edged past Mumbai Customs 10-9 via the sudden-death to storm into the elite main draw, in the 47th Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament at the MHA-Mahindra Stadium on Friday.

In an exciting second round clash between impressive local teams, Navy recovered from a 1-2 deficit at half time to draw level with a brilliant second half equaliser, before forcing the tie-breaker where the teams were locked 6-6.

Following four rounds of the sudden-death, Stanly Fernandes of Customs pushed well over the horizontal, while S.B. Gorde succeeded in finding the target to seal Navy’s win.

Navy made it to Group D in the elite league where they will be joined by last year’s runners-up Bharat Petroleum and Punjab & Sind Bank.

Had Irshad Mirza finished a brilliant move by Stanly and Devender Walmiki at the fag end of the match, Customs would have avoided the agony of bowing out of the competition via the sudden-death especially after impressing through most part of an eventful encounter.

Navy too could have avoided the tie-breaker had Gorde connected a free-hit seconds before the hooter.

Customs got off to a dream start as they combined brilliantly to make early inroads into the Navy citadel. They were almost rewarded in the seventh minute but Hemanth Gethe deflected wide.

Two minutes later, Navy received a brilliant opportunity to break the 0-0 deadlock but Ashok Kumar hit wide from close in a melee.

While Customs showed early signs of dominating the match, Rajan Lakra gave Navy a surprise lead against the run of play in the 20th minute. But Walmiki neutralised in the 29th at a time Customs were combining well to the delight of the crowd. Customs snatched the lead just before the half time, when Stanly finished a brilliantly move.

As Navy made a determined effort in search of the equaliser, soon after the breather their goalkeeper Kalu Ram blocked a powerful reverse hit by Mirza to rescue the sailors from enduring further pressure.

Navy’s hard work paid dividends as Surender Kumar connected a 59th minute penalty corner that offered them an opportunity to change the script.

Earlier, Western Railway, Mumbai set up a second round clash with Maharaja Ranjit Singh Academy, Amritsar following an exciting 5-3 win over MS Police, via the tie-breaker after the teams were locked 1-1 at full-time.

Favourites Western, who surprisingly experienced opening round blues and struggled, suffered a setback when MS Police took the lead through Vinod Nimbhore’s penalty corner conversion in the 13th minute.

But Western initiated a counter move and two minutes later Hardeep Singh fired in the equaliser with a brilliant effort. Both teams battled hard to find the winner, but the second half ended scoreless.

Talented Pamposh XI, Orissa kicked off their campaign with an impressive 8-3 rout of Lucknow United to set up a second round encounter with Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai who received a first round bye.

Jems Jidan Munda scored three goals, while Amit Rohitdas netted a brace. Amulya Minz, Bipin Kerketta and Bikish Kujur completed the tally.

Results: Western Rly bt MS Police 5-3 via tie-breaker (FT: 1-1); Pamposh XI, Orissa 8 (Jems Jidan Munda 3, Amit Rohitdas 2, Amulya Minz, Bipin Kerketta, Bikish Kujur) bt Lucknow United 3 (Ashok Soni, Afzal, Sarvesh); Indian Navy bt Mumbai Customs 10-9 via tie-breaker (FT: 2-2, TB 6-6).

SATURDAY: 2.30 p.m. Western Railway, Mumbai vs Maharaja Ranjit Singh Academy, Amritsar