Times of India: Ravi brace helps IPS, Bhopal triumph in All India U-17 Inter-School Hockey Championship

By Suhas Nayse

NAGPUR: Ace forward Ravi Panche slammed a splendid brace as IPS, Bhopal thrashed Guru Harkishan Public School, Rajasthan 4-0 to clinch the title in the All India Inter-School U-17 Hockey Championship which concluded at Nagar Parishad School, ground in Kalmeshwar on Saturday.

The five-day tournament was organized by National Council for Sports and Youth Development, New Delhi.
After playing a goalless first half, IPS, Bhopal regrouped themselves in the second session to score four goals to emerge winners.

Ravi Panche was the chief architect of Bhopal victory. The hard-working striker sounded the board in the 43rd and 61st minutes. Mohd Anas (44th) and Ansar Ur Rahman (63rd) scored a goal each to complete the tally.

Guru Harkishan Public School, Rajasthan tried hard to reduce the deficit but in vain. After taking a comfortable lead, Bhopal side defended well to seal the fate of their rivals.

Earlier in the hard-line final, Dinanath High School, Nagpur mauled Rani Rasmoni School, Kolkata 5-1 to take the third place.

Naveen Kathoute (3rd), Ayush Gupta (44th), Archit Thakur (53rd, 58th) and Shashank Durugkar (65th) were the goal scorers for Dinanath. Paswan Routh (40) netted a solitary goal for Kolkata.

Olympian Ashok Kumar was the chief guest of the prize distribution function. Dr Surya Prakash Yadav, president, National Council for Sports and Youth Development, New Delhi, presided over.

On the occasion, Vidarbha Hockey Association president Radheshyam Sarda, Baba Kode, Avinash Gotmare, Sudatta Ramteke, Pramod Thakre, Riyaz Kazi, Firoz Khan, Asif Sheikh were also present. The function was conducted by Anuradha Wankhede.

The champion team

IPS Bhopal: Abhijit Mohit (GK), Aditya Cherti, Avinash Sen, Naresh Rathi, Juber Khan, Sunny Rathor, Yogesh Rajput, Anugrah Chouhan, Mohd Anas, Suhail Zafar, Haider Ali, Faizan Uddin, Ravi Panche, Sameer Ahmad, Vikas Razak, Anzar-ur Rahman, Bajrang Sen. Coach: Mangal Vaid. Manager: Amit Rathor. Umpires: Rajkumar Jha, Rajesh Nirmalkar. Technical officer: Arnold Xavier. Reserve umpire: Virendra Singh. Tournament Director: Firoz Sheikh.

Individual Awards

Best goalkeeper: Raman Kumar (Rajasthan); Best forward: Rajat Kumar (Bhopal), Best half: Deepak Khobragade (Nagpur); Best defender: Kumar Yadav (Kolkata), Highest goal-scorer: Prince Munda (Rajasthan).