It’s do-or-die for hosts UP vs Odisha
LUCKNOW: It’s going to be a do-ordie match for Danish Mujtabaled former runners-up Uttar Pradesh when they take on Odisha in their last league match at the 8th senior men’s national hockey championship on Tuesday as the two teams have six points each so far.
Defending champions Railways with nine points in three matches have already made it to the quarterfinals from Pool A, and the winners of the match between UP and Odisha on Tuesday would qualify for the quarters on finishing second.
Besides the home advantage, Uttar Pradesh enjoy an upper hand against the rivals because of the goal difference and even a draw in the game would put UP through to the knockout stage.
Match starts at 4.30 p.m., at the Padma Shri Mohd Shahid stadium in Gomti Nagar.
Meanwhile, star-studded Petroleum Sports Promotion Board defeated Services Sports Control Board 4-3 in a thriller to make it to the quarterfinals on Monday.
In other matches of the day, Association of Indian Universities beat Central Reserve Police Force 5-2, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha beat Hockey Jharkhand 6-1 and Hockey Bhopal defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 5-2.
In their Pool C encounter, PSPB though ran away with a comfortable 4-0 lead after the first 36 minutes of the match, before SSCB scored three goals in remaining time to make it a nervy few minutes for their opposition. However,
PSPB did enough to secure all the three points which sees them top their Pool with a tally of nine points from three matches. Gurjinder Singh (14’, 26’), Affan Yousuf (5’) and Talwinder Singh (36’) scored for the winners, while Lovedeep Singh (38’), Anand Lakra (51’) and Sanjib Dungdung (60’) netted for SSCB.
Earlier, AIU started the match with two quick goals in the first 25 minutes, while Central Reserve Police Force tried to make a comeback as they scored through Wasiullah Khan in the 33rd minute.
But AIU scored twice more in 44th and 49th minutes to take a 4-1 lead. Central Reserve Police Force scored again in the 59th minute through Sudhir Horo but it wasn’t enough for them as their opposition scored a fifth goal to secure all the three points.
Amanpreet Singh (10’, 25’), Abhay Kumar (44’), Taleb Shah (49’) and Harmanpreet Singh (60’) netted for the winners.
In Pool B, Hockey GangpurOdisha secured their first win of their campaign as they defeated Hockey Jharkhand 6-1.
The winners took the lead in the 19th minute through Amon Mirash Tirkey but Hockey Jharkhand restored parity in the 23rd minute through Joseph Kongari to make it 1-1.
However, Hockey GangpurOdisha produced an amazing display of attacking hockey to score five goals in the remainder of the match to secure an emphatic 6-1 win.
The goal scorers were Roshan Minz (27’, 59’), Aijub Ekka (45’), Dilip Lakra (47’) and Sanjay Xalxo (56’).
In the last match of the day, Hockey Bhopal defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 5-2 to secure their first win of the competition.
Captain Osaf ur Rehman (48’, 53’), Adnan Shaikh (9’), Nadeem Uddin (20’) and Amir ur Rehman (28’) scored for the winners, whereas Manish Gurung and Vikash Choudhary netted for the MPHA.