Mercury soars, leaves everyone searching for cover
LUCKNOW: As expected, there were hardly any takers for the opening day’s action at the 7th Senior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Men) ‘B’ Division here on Monday as hot and humid conditions left everyone running for shelter.
As mercury touched 44 degrees Celsius (humidity 40%), hardly a dozen fans, mostly the employees of the Padamshree Mohd Shahid Stadium at Vijayantkhand Stadium here in Gomti Nagar, watched the 70-mninute duel between Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. As there were no covers at the stadium, fans stayed away from the prestigious event.
“The conditions are horrible for players here. I believe evening matches should be shifted to late in the evening as the stadium is flood lit. This would be a big relief to the players,” a player told HT just before the start of the evening matches. “We are bound to play in all conditions and if given the opportunity, we would love to play even late in the night under the lights to avoid this hot and humid conditions,” he added.
Situation at the second pitch at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium at the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College too remained worst as even in the morning matches humidity kept troubling the players though Hockey Himachal starting their campaign with a resounding 19-0 win against Andaman and Nicobar in Pool B. Three goals each by Rinku Antil, Vijay and Jatin remained the highlights for the winners.
Studded with former India stars Petroleum Sports Promotion Board too launched their campaign in style, drubbing Major Port Sports Control Board 12-0, and local boy Lalit Upadhyay underlined his potential with four goals to take his team to a commanding victory in Pool A.
Telengana Hockey though put up some brave front in another Pool A match, they failed to stop Hockey Maharashtra winning by 5-1, whereas in Pool C opener, Central Industrial Security Force beat Hockey Uttarakhand 6-1. Nicky Rajak struck a hattrick, netting consecutive goals in the second, 12th and 27th minutes, respectively, before Basant Bharadwaj striking in the 38th and 56th minute to complete the formality.
CISF scored 6-1 win against Uttarakhand in yet another Pool C encounter, whereas Vidarbha had to struggle a bit before brushing aside Sports Authority of Gujarat Hockey Academy 3-1. Though Delhi started in a slow fashion, they managed to beat Hockey Andhra Pradesh 3-0 with Praveen Kumar scoring goals in the 23rd and 53rd minutes, respectively after Ankur Patel drawing the first blood in the 13th minute in the last match of the day.
TUESDAY’S FIXTURES
At Dhyanchand stadium
(7.30 am): Hockey Rajasthan vs Major Port Sports Control Board; (9.00 am): Telangana Hockey vs Petroleum Sports Promotion Board; (4.30 pm): Central Reserve Police Force vs Hockey Andaman and Nicobar. At Mohd Shahid stadium (7.30 am): Hockey Andhra Pradesh vs Hockey Himachal; (9.00
am): Hockey Coorg vs Vidarbha Hockey Association; (4.30 pm): Hockey Uttarakhand vs Sports Authority Of Gujarat Hockey Academy.