Pune (Maharashtra), 20 April 2015: The teams produced a spectacular performance to beat their respective opponents today at the 5th Senior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Men) Div- A being played at Pune, Maharashtra.

The much confident Hockey Haryana started the day with a win over Uttar Pradesh Hockey 4-2 in Pool C. The second encounter in the same group saw a neck-to-neck fight as Hockey Maharashtra knotted the score at 1-1 against Services Sports Control Board. Another exciting clash was witnessed where Railway Sports Promotion Board thumped Hockey Karnataka with a 7-3 on board in Pool D. In the same Pool, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd. stunned Hockey Punjab by a narrow margin of 1-0. In Pool A, Sports Authority of India outplayed Hockey Andhra Pradesh by 2-0 and Air India Sports Promotion Board thrashed Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by a huge margin of 7-3.

In the Pool C match, Hockey Haryana taking on Uttar Pradesh Hockey ensured dominance over the match as they went on to win the game 4-2. Going on the attack immediately Hockey Haryana got a Penalty Corner to their name in the 2nd minute and Shivdeep ensured he beat the goalkeeper to score the opening goal of the day. Post the initial goal both teams maintained pressure on each other as they looked for scoring opportunities. Hockey Haryana another go at the penalty corner in the 27th minute and Jitender Saroha scored and the half time scores stood at 2-0 in their favour. Hockey Haryana in their bid to increase the goal difference further capitalised in the 40th minute when Mandeep Antil beat the defence and goalkeeper to score. Trailing 0-3, Uttar Pradesh Hockey scored two consecutive goals in the 42nd and 45th minute with the first being a penalty stroke and the second a field effort. This got Uttar Pradesh Hockey excited as they saw an opportunity to equalize but Hockey Haryana added one more to the goal tally, scoring the fourth goal and finishing the game at 4-2.

In another match in Pool C, Hockey Maharashtra held Services Sports Control Board for a draw as the match was exciting and equally intense. Services Sports Control Board started the game with intent to look for the initial goal and they were successful just 4 minutes into the game when Davinder Singh flicked the ball into the nets. Leaving the Services Sports Control Board stunned they attacked and looked for capitalizing on the opportunities but were unable to open their account, resulting in the first half in favour of Hockey Maharashtra 1-0. The second half was the same story as both teams looked at scoring. Hockey Maharashtra finally struck success in the 42nd minute as Captain Vishal Pillay did not mistake in converting the penalty corner. With the game at 1-1 it was anyone’s game from here. But unfortunately for both the teams and the supporters not further goals were scored resulting in a 1-1 draw.

In Pool D clash between Railway Sports Promotion Board and Hockey Karnataka was a one sided affair as the former beat the latter 7-3 and registering a convincing win. Railway Sports Promotion Board struck just 4 minutes into the game when penalty corner was converted by Talwinder Singh. Hocjey Karnataka equalized the game in the 20th minute, a penalty corner which was slammed by Sheshe Gowda B M. The team scored their second consecutive goal in the 22nd minute when Thimanna P L’s field effort bore positive results. With 2-1 in favour of Hockey Karnataka, the opponents finally equalized in the 35th minute and ended the first half scores at 2-2. The second half saw the game getting exciting as Railway Sports Promotion Board took the lead in the game in the 41st minute which was a penalty stroke and taken by Amit Rohidas. Hockey Karnataka equalized the game immediately in the 48th minute when Kusha JP scored through a penalty corner. post the goal it was Railway Sports Promotion Board game as they scored four back to back goals in the 50th, 54th, 55th and 56th minute and winning the game 7-3.

In the fourth match of the day, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd. stunned Hockey Punjab by a narrow margin of 1-0 after a fierce battle in the Pool D match. Both the teams started with aggressive game and fought hard to take the early lead in the match. In the 6th minute of the match, Mumbai counter-attacked on the opponent’s side and Victo Singh dribbled-past the defenders with a rapid speed. Victo managed to out-fox the defenders and hit the ball hard into the goal-box to score the lone goal of the match. After conceding the goal, Punjab played with more aggression and continuously attacked on opponent’s half. However, Mumbai defenders played a steady game and thwarted all their attacks. With a brilliant display of team-spirit, Mumbai Hockey Association managed to retain the 1-0 score-line till the final whistle and registered a thumping 1-0 victory over Hockey Punjab.

In the fifth match, Sports Authority of India (SAI) outplayed Hockey Andhra Pradesh by 2-0 in the Pool A clash. SAI dominated through-out the match and kept Andhra Pradesh busy with their attacking game. SAI’s star player Changappa scored the first goal of the day in 23rd minute when he stormed into opponent’s half and sent the ball into the nets to give an early lead to his team. After the goal, both the teams played with more attacks and counter-attacks. Andhra Pradesh managed to create many opportunities but they failed to materialise to convert in goals. SAI extended the lead in the 57th minute when Veeranna Gowda sneaked into the D and hit the ball hard into the goal-box to score the second goal of the match. With this goal, SAI led the game by 2-0 and maintained the score0-line till the last minute of the match.

In another Pool A match, Air India Sports Promotion Board (AISPB) thrashed Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by a huge margin of 7-3. AISPB dominated through-out the match and scored goals in regular intervals to maintain pressure on MP Hockey Academy. AISPB drew the first blood in the 4th minute of the match when Gaganpreet Singh converted a well-earned penalty corner into the first goal of the match. His team-mate Shivendra Singh scored two back-to-back goals in 10thand 15th of the match to increase the lead by 3-0. Trailing by three goals, MP Hockey Academy scored the first goal in the 23rd minute with the help of Munis Qureshi and the score-line to 3-1. AISPB replied with more aggression in the match and Arman Qureshi scored two back-to-back goals in 41st and 44th minute to extend the lead by 5-1. Inspired by striking performance by Arman, Mohan Muthanna and Vikram Pillay hit two goals in 55th and 57th minutes respectively to take the score-line 7-1. Now trailing by seven goals, MP Hockey Academy pushed themselves harder and gave everything in the dying minutes. With the forceful attacks, Vikas Choudary scored two back-to-back goals in 58th and 59th minutes to reduce the margin by 3-7. AISPB displayed an outstanding performance and won the match by a huge margin of 7-3 against MP Hockey Academy.

Results of the day:

Pool C – Hockey Haryana 4 Shivdeep (2 min-PC), Jitender Saroha (27 min-PC), Mandeep Antil (40 min-FG), Gagandeep Singh (52 in-PC) vs Uttar Pradesh Hockey 2 Amir Khan (42 min-PS), Sharad Kumar (52 min-PC) v

Pool C – Services Sports Control Board 1 Davinder Singh (4 min-FG) vs Hockey Maharashtra 1 Vishal Pillay (42 min-PC)

Pool D – Railway Sports Promotion Board 7 Talwinder Singh ( 4min-PC), Yuvraj Walmiki (35 min-PC), Amit Rohidas (41 min-PS, 55 min-PC, 56 min-PS), Vinod Kumar Singh (50 min-FG, 54 min-FG) vs Hockey Karnataka 3 Sheshe Gowda BM (20 min-PC), Thimanna PL (22 min-FG), Kusha JP (48 min-PC)

Pool D – The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd. 1 Victo Singh (6min- FG) vs Hockey Punjab 0

Pool A – Sports Authority of India 2 Changappa CN (23min-FG), Veeranna Gowda (57min-FG) vs Hockey Andhra Pradesh 0

Pool A – Air India Sports Promotion Board 7 Gaganpreet Singh (4min-PC), Shivendra Singh (10min-FG, 15min-FG), Arman Qureshi (41min-FG, 44min-FG), Mohan Muthanna (55min-FG), Vikram Pillay (57min-FG) vs Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 3 Munis Qureshi (23min-FG), Vikas Choudary (58min-FG, 59min-FG)