Hockey India Jr ‘A’ lift Babu hockey trophy

LUCKNOW : Hockey India Juniors ‘A’ made their presence felt at the 37th All-India KD Singh ‘Babu hockey tournament, lifting the glittering trophy after beating favourites Punjab National Bank 3-2 in a thrilling final, at the Padamshree Mohd Shahid stadium here on Wednesday.

HI Juniors ‘A’ got the winners’ purse of Rs 2 lakh, whereas Indian Air Force, which finished third after outplaying Sports Authority of India, Lucknow 6-5 in penalty shootout, had to satisfy with Rs 50,000, whereas runners-up PNB pocketed Rs 1 lakh.

The difference of class between HI Juniors ‘A’ and PNB was very much evident from the word go as within first five minutes Vishal Singh sounded the board from the left side (1-0). This wasn’t all as four minutes later, Abhishek while pouncing on a perfect through pass at the top of circle, slotted the ball home to increase the tally to 2-0.

Two goals within 10 minutes time left bank men shell shocked, and before they could come out of slumber, Vishal Antil shot the third one in the 12th minute to leave them struggling further. Certainly, all three goals were the perfect example of right planning and their executions.

It was all over for the PNB thereafter as they kept almost beginning for the ball except once before the break when they managed to earn a penalty corner for the side, but to no avail as stopper failed to push the ball properly to team’s drag flicker.

Nothing went wrong for HI Juniors thereafter even after change in the ends, and they continued dominating the proceedings, but missed a few easy opportunities. However, things began changing dramatically when Gagandeep Singh (Jr) shot one back for the PNB in the 46th minute, converting a penalty stroke (1-3).

This goal, however, encouraged bank men press hard and their repeated efforts paid rich dividends as Gagandeep Singh (Jr) this time converted a penalty corner in the 49th minute to reduce the margin to 2-3. Full marks to HI custodian Pankaj Kumar Rajak, who refused bank men three consecutive scoring opportunities in the dying minutes then.

“Boys need to learn as how to keep patience as succumbing to pressure in the dying minutes after enjoying 3-0 lead was a big lesson,” Hi coach Jude Felix said after the match.

The tie between SAI Lucknow and India Air Force too lived up to the expectation as local outfits despite enjoying 3-0 lead even in the second half, allowed rival to level score 3-all. Harmeek Singh, Subhjeet Singh, Sanwar Ali, AS Santa Singh were given Rs 10,000 each as special prizes.