The Tribune: Western Railways win title

Western Railways clinched the women’s title at the 33rd Surjit Memorial hockey tournament after beating Haryana in a thrilling final here today.
Western Railways, who beat Punjab in the semifinals, won 4-2 in the final.

Western Railways dominated the proceedings from the word go. In the 14th minute, Manjit Kaur netted the ball after dodging goalkeeper Sheweta. Anupa Barla struck in the 35th minute to consolidate Western Railways’ lead.
In the 40th minute, Jaspreet Kaur reduced the margin through a penalty corner conversion. However, Mayengbam Lily Chanu converted an indirect penalty corner two minutes later to restore Western Railways’ two-goal lead.

In the 51st minute, Neha converted a penalty corner for Haryana. However, Western Railways quashed this late push by Haryana, while scoring a goal themselves through a penalty corner conversion by Navneet Kaur in the 67th minute.
The winners bagged Rs 1 lakh and the runners-up bagged Rs 75,000. Jaspreet Kaur of Haryana XI was declared the best player of the tournament and received Rs 11000. North Central Railways got the fair play award.

In the men’s section, Army XI will take on Railways, while Punjab National Bank will face Namdhari XI in the semifinals tomorrow.

The match between Army XI and Punjab & Sind Bank today ended in a 1-1 draw, the olive greens managing to secure a berth in the semis on the basis of better goal average.