Captain Raj Kumar shines as SAI enter semis
LUCKNOW : Captain Raj Kumar Pal led from the front, scoring a brace as local outfits Sports Authority of India, Lucknow on Thursday marched into the semi-final of the 38th All-India KD Singh ‘Babu’ Men’s Hockey Tournament, defeating South Central Railway 5-3.
Comptroller Auditor General too made it to the last four as they defeated Eastern Railway Sports Association 3-0 in other quarterfinal of the day.
On Friday, Air India meet India Oil in the first semi-final at 1.30 p.m., before CAG lock horns with SAI Lucknow in the second semi-final at 3.30 p.m.
Both SAI and SCR men played some fast hockey and were locked in 2-2 draw at the first half. But after a change in the ends, SAI men found the going easy against their experienced rivals.
Uttam Singh (1st, 61st), Raj Kumar Pal (34th, 51st) and Arun Sahani (57th) scored for the winners, whereas Love Preet Singh and Pratap Lakra netted for the SCR.
In the second match, it wasn’t an easy task for the CAG as they had to struggle a lot, especially after scoring the first goal in the first half. Chandan Singh converted a penalty corner in the 15th minute, but thereafter they had to face a tough resistance from Railways’ defenders.
A field goal in the 61st minute by Imran Khan Junior eased the pressure for a while (2-0), and then Mithilesh Kumar rounded off the tally in the 66th minute with another field goal.
CHESS TOURNEY
The 9th Shivani Cup Open Chess Tournament will take place on Sunday in four different categories. A sum of Rs 16,000 would be distributed among the winners. Meanwhile, another tournament will take place on Saturday. The events offers Rs 32,200.
CBSE TT
The Navayuga Radiance Senior Secondary School (Rajendra Nagar) would be conducting the CBSE Cluster IV Table Tennis Championship from October 6 to 8 here.
Over 300 paddlers from 48 CBSE schools from different parts of the state would be seen in action.