SUPER DIVISION HOCKEY

ONGC dream high, win big

Mumbai: Agression need not always be a negative thing, especially if it helps enhance one’s perfomance. And if that performance bears fruit in the form of victory, there’s no better high one can reach.

ONGC experinced that high when they made clear their intent of playing attacking hock ey from the word go and thrashing a below par Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) 8-1 in their Super Division tie at the Mahindra BHA stadium on Tuesday.

ONGC played at a level that made MbPT look like a bunch of amateurs. They attacked from both flanks and hardly lost possession. Not only did ONGC play the attacking game well, they also did well to foil MbPT’s attempts to push forward and score. ONGC were impressive with their guile and speed.

Despite the absence of their star players like Diwakar Ram and Bikas Toppo, currently at the Indian camp in Bangalore, the second-string squad came up trumps in all departments.

If one is to believe coach Sandeep Sangwan, ONGC’s meteoric rise started about a year-and-a-half back.

“We held camps all over India and picked these talented boys. Since then they have been with us, training and delivering the results. With seven of our senior players currently at the national camp and four others out with injury, these boys have done well to win our previous three matches of the Super Division by big margins and today we came up with one our best performances,’’ opined Sandeep.

“Because this team has trained together, they share an understanding and gel well. Some of our players like defender Baljinder Singh and Sandeep Antil (who played for Maratha Warriors in the PHL) have already played for the Junior India squad. Our goal is to become the No. 1 hockey team, not only in Mumbai but in India,’’ added Sangwan, who sees Air India as the biggest roadblock to achieving that dream.

“Whenever we’ve faced Air India our matches have mostly ended in draws or we’ve lost in the tie-breakers, like in the Guru Teg Bahadur tournament. Once we are successful in defeating Air India, which is a virtual India side, I can say that we are nearing our dream,’’ said Sangwan.