Railways enter quarterfinals, drub UP 5-0
LUCKNOW: Defending champions Railways on Sunday stormed into the quarterfinals of the 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2018 (A Division), notching up their third consecutive win in as many as matches here. On Sunday, they defeated hosts ad former runners-up Uttar Pradesh 5-0, at the Padma Shree Mohd Shahid stadium.
The Pool A match witnessed Railway score a goal each in the first three quarters and end the final quarter with two more goals to secure a convincing victory. Kusha Gowda (6’), Rajin Kandulna (28’), Karanpal Singh (45’), Sheshe Gowda (58’) and Malak Singh (60’) scored.
Earlier, Comptroller & Auditor General of India played out a 1-1 draw with Hockey Chandigarh in Pool D, whereas Namdhari XI won their second match of the competition, beating Association of Indian Universities 2-0. Goals for Namdhari XI were scored in the first two quarters by Sher Singh (4’) and Navdeep Singh (24’).
In a Pool B match, it was Air India Sports Promotion Board who came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw against runners-up Punjab and Sind Bank. The draw helped Air India Sports Promotion Board stay top of the Pool with seven points while Punjab and Sind Bank occupy the third spot with five points. Gaganpreet Singh scored in the 11th and the 25th minutes for P&SB, whereas Satbir Singh scoring a brace in the 19th and 48th minutes for Air India.
In the other Pool B match, Hockey Haryana moved to the second spot in the pool standings, defeating Hockey GangpurOdisha 3-2, whereas in a Pool C match, Hockey Punjab ended up playing a 3-3 draw with The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd to occupy the first position in the Pool with a tally of seven points from three matches.
Hockey Karnataka beat Services Sports Control Board 3-1 to secure their first win of the competition in another Pool C match, before Hockey Odisha defeating Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 4-2 in the last match of the day.