VPA trio rule

Yuvraj, Vikas and Sunil enable team to enter senior finals
Avinash Rajput

It was the Vikram Pillay Academy (VPA) A trio, Yuvraj Valmiki, Vikas Pillay and Sunil Bernards action, which enabled their team enter the finals of the Saros N Kothavalla Hockey Tournament at the Dhyanchand stadium here on Tuesday.

The VPA made it to the final round of the senior division category after defeating Green Meadows 4-1.

Yuvraj Valmiki along with striker Vikas Pillay drew the first blood to punch in the first goal in the 6th minute of the game, for the VPA. But, it took not very long for Green Meadows Kamlesh Oswal to score an equaliser in the 19th minute and made sure his side give a tough fight till the game went into the second half.

But, the action continued in the second half too, as VPA scored another goal in the first minute as Raju B made an easy finish of a fed by Sunil Bernard and put his side one up.

It was the same Valmiki-Pillay duo amalgamation which infiltrated the Green Meadows defence after Valmiki netted an easy finish in the 40th minute. Another goal came up for VPA when Vikas Pillay this time combined with Sunil Bernard to add one more goal to the tally which took the final score to 4-1.

Now, VPA will play the winner of Railway Police and Bombay Engineering Group (BEG) in the senior division final.

In the junior division encounter the Rovers Academy booked their place in the final after knocking out Shilloh Sports Club 3-1. The Rovers Academy was put under instant pressure by the Shilloh Sports Club when Johnson Kullu converted a penalty corner through a pass form Vijay Baa in the 10th minute.

Failing to capitalise on the early lead the Shilloh side conceded a goal in the 15th minute when right winger Santosh Kasture levelled the score through a pass from Sachin Kamble. The 19th minute goal by Santosh Gaikwad received a prolonged applause as he dodged passed three defenders and struck a goal after the fruity less chase by Shilloh custodian Roshan Bage. Prashant Bage added one more goal to the total as his team entered the final round. The Rovers Academy will play the winners of Rakshak Sports Club and VPA B in the summit clash.