ONGC, PSB, Namdhari XI win

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Dehradun, along with Punjab and Sind Bank (Jalandhar) and Namdhari XI (Bhaini Sahib) recorded second victories in the inaugural All India Sahibzada Ajit Singh Hockey Championship at the Prithipal Singh Memorial Stadium here today.

A match in progress on Thursday. Photo: Inderjeet Verma

In the first match of the day, ONGC got the better of Indian Air Force (Delhi) 5-2 with Diwakar Ram scoring a hat-trick. Diwakar put ONGC ahead when he converted a penalty-corner in the 10th minute. He added another goal in the very next minute to consolidate the lead and two minutes later made 3-0 to complete his hat-trick. Just before the lemon break, international Gurwinder Chandi sounded the board to further cement the lead and immediately into the second half, Jayanta struck to complete the rout.

However, IAF managed to reduce the margin as Prabhakar and Lovpreet found the target midway through the second half, salvaging some pride.

In the second match, Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) quelled a strong challenge from Punjab National Bank (Delhi) before emerging victorious 4-2 after leading by two goals at half-time. PSB surged ahead in the initial moments through Parminder Singh and enhanced the lead when Parminder was again on target in the 10th minute. Harbir Singh found the target in the 37th minute to increase the lead (3-0).

PNB opened their account in the 51st minute through Navdeep Singh. Five minutes later, he scored another goal (3-2). PSB’s Pardeep Singh scored in the 60th minute to wrap up the issue 4-2.

The third game of the day between Namdhari XI and Delhi XI was a mis-match as the former came out triumphant unchallenged (6-0). In the last match of the day, Chandigarh XI blanked Signal Corps XI (Jalandhar) 2-0 to register their first victory. Yesterday, Chandigarh went down fighting 2-3 against PNB, Delhi.