Pune (Maharashtra), 7 April 2015: First day of 5th Senior Men’s National Hockey Championship 2015 today saw intense battles. The day started with Hockey Rajasthan’s impressive win over Tripura Hockey by 3-1 and followed by three one-sided matches where Delhi Hockey defeated Assam by 7-2, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir beat Kerala Hockey by 7-2 and Vidarbha Hockey Association defeated Hockey Gujarat by 10-2.

The first match started with impressive game play by Hockey Rajasthan, who outplayed Tripura Hockey by 3-1 in Pool A. Rajasthan dominated through-out the match with their attacking and fast-paced game, without giving much space to their opponents. Pradeep Naruka scored the first goal of the match in 5th minute and gave an early lead to Hockey Rajasthan. In the 22ndminute, Tripura managed to earn a penalty corner, which was converted perfectly by Noor Ul Islam and equalised the score 1-1. After receiving the jolt, Rajasthan players charged with full force on the opposition side and scored two goals to seal their victory. Rajasthan’s Devanshu Rawat scored the second goal for his team in 40th minute and Vishesh Kumar scored the third goal in 49th minute to finish the match at 3-1.

In the 2nd match of the day, Delhi Hockey thrashed Assam Hockey by 7-2 in a Pool B league match dominated by tournament favourite Delhi team. Delhi’s star player Satender Dalal’s spectacular four goals steered his team to victory over Assam team. Though Assam drew the first blood in the match with the help of Rituraj Boro’s impressive field goal in the 2nd minute of the match, Satender’s first goal in the 4th minute not only equalise the score-line, but also brought new energy in the team. In the 27th minute, Simpinder Singh extended the lead by 2-1 by converting a penalty corner and Satender then scored two goals in 33rd and 49th minutes. Substitute Deepak Kumar brought more power to the team when he stepped on the field and scored two back-to-back goals in 41st and 48th minutes giving Delhi a strong hold in the game. Assam players managed to pull their team with Rituraj’s second goal in 52nd minute but it was too late to come back in the game as Assam was trailing by 2-6. Satender’s fourth goal in 60thminute was the final nail in Assam’s coffin and score stood 7-2 by the end of the final whistle.

In the third match of the day, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir thumped down Kerala Hockey by a huge margin of 7-2 in the Pool C league match. Mandeep Singh for Hockey Jammu & Kashmir scored a brilliant hat-trick and led his team to a spectacular win. Mandeep opened the account with his two back-to-back goals in 6th and 8th minutes to give a dominating lead of 2-0. In the 17th minute, Jammu & Kashmir earned a penalty corner and Satwant Singh converted it in the third goal of his team. Kerala managed to score the first goal in 25th minute with the help of Faris Mon. Mandeep scored his hat-trick goal in 34th minute by converting a penalty corner and after five minutes (39th minute), Survinder Singh scored the fifth goal for his team, leading the match by 5-1. In 41st minute, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir earned another penalty corner and Satwant converted it beautifully for the sixth goal. Trailing by 1-6, Kerala’s Faris scored again in 48th minute to give some motivation to his team. In the 56th minute, Survinder scored his second goal and team’s seventh goal to seal the victory by 7-2.

The fourth match saw another defeat by a huge margin as Vidarbha Hockey Association beat Hockey Gujarat by 10-2 in the Pool D league match. Vidarbha captain Imran Sheikh led the attack with his five exciting goals and he was well-supported by Aamir Khan, who scored a hat-trick to register a thumping victory on Gujarat. Imran drew first blood in the 3rd minute and Aamir scored the second goal in the 8th minute to give early jolts to the opponents. From here, the match was totally controlled by Vidharbha Hockey Association and their inspiring captain Imran, who scored the third and fourth goal in 14th and 19th minutes respectively. The fifth goal was added by Rahul Kalakoti in the 22nd minute and Aamir struck again with his two back-to-back goals in 26th and 32nd minutes, extending the lead by 7-0. Taking the opportunity of destabilise the opponents, Shaibaz Sheikh scored the eighth goal in 36th minute for his team, which was followed by skipper Imran’s two more goals in 39th and 46th minute. Trailing by a huge margin of 0-10, Gujarat’s Aashish Dave and Kiran Thapa mustered some courage and scored two consolation goals in 52nd and 59th minutes but the goals came too late in the day for the team. Vidarbha registered a huge 10-2 score-line victory over Gujarat.

Results of the Day

Pool A – Hockey Rajasthan 3 Pradeep Naruka (5min-FG), Devanshu Rawat (40min-FG), Vishesh Kumar (49min-FG) vs Tripura Hockey 1 Noor Ul Islam (22min-PC)

Pool B – Delhi Hockey 7 Satender Dalal (4min-FG, 33min-FG, 49min-FG, 60min-FG), Simpinder Singh (27min-PC), Deepak Kumar (41min-FG, 48min-FG) vs Assam Hockey 2 Rituraj Boro (2min-FG, 52min-FG)

Pool C – Hockey Jammu & Kashmir 7 Mandeep Singh (6min-FG, 8min-FG, 34min-PC), Satwant Singh (17min-PC, 41min-PC), Survinder Singh (39min-FG, 56min-FG) vs Kerala Hockey 2 Faris Mon (25min-FG, 48min-FG)

Pool D – Vidarbha Hockey Association 10 Imran Sheikh (03min–FG, 14min-FG, 19min-FG, 39min-FG, 46min-FG), Aamir Khan (08min-FG, 26min-FG, 32min-FG), Rahul Kalakoti (22min-FG), Shaibaz Khan (36min-FG) vs Hockey Gujarat 2 Aashish Dave (52min-FG), Kiran Thapa (59min-FG)