Haryana in line for maiden crown, confident Mumbai favourites

BHOPAL: Haryana will be looking to clinch their maiden championship crown when they take on a confident Mumbai in the final of the 63rd Rangaswamy Cup Senior National Hockey Championship at the floodlit Aishbagh Astroturf Stadium on Sunday.

In the semifinals played on Friday, Mumbai spanked Chandigarh 3-0 while Haryana got the better of Tamil Nadu 2-1.

The match between Mumbai and Chandigarh was marred by a scuffle with players pushing and jostling each other. However, tournament officials intervened and restored normalcy in the game.

Mumbai shot into the lead in the fourth minute when Gurdev Singh scored off a penalty corner. At half-time, Mumbai led 1-0. Two more goals were scored in the 63rd and 67 minutes.

In the second encounter, Haryana opened its account in the 36th minute through a fine field goal by Naveen Antil. But six minutes later, Tamil Nadu equalised with R Ashok converting a penalty corner.

However, Kulbhushan Vashisht converted a penalty stroke in the 57th minute to give his team a 2-1 victory.