Central stroke out Freunds to clinch WCG women’s crown
Putting to good advantage their vast experience, Central Railway fought hard and showed better nerves as they overcame Freunds Red 6-5 via the sudden death tiebreaker in the Women’s final of the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana 37th Victor D’Mello Memorial Trophy Rink Hockey Tournament - 2018, conducted under the auspices of the MHAL, and played at the Gymkhana's floodlit tennis courts.
Freunds twice took the lead through their opportunistic and prolific scorer Ruqqaiya Shaikh, who was later declared as the ‘Player of the tournament’. But, Central fought back and managed to score twice in the second session through S. Rajneeta to force a 2-2 draw and to take the contest to the penalty strokes tiebreaker.
The summit clash was a closely fought affair as the younger Freunds outfit did well to match their more senior opponents and towards the end of the first session they, against the run of play managed to take the lead through their Ruqquaiya who scored with a snap effort and ensure her team went into the break with a slender 1-0 advantage.
Central made a strong reply and immediately on resumption managed to find the equalizer through Ranjeeta, but Freunds quickly regained the lead with Ruqqaiya scoring hers and the team’s second goal of the match. With time ticking away Central managed to get a late equalizer and once again it was Rajneeta who came to their rescue and to take the match to the penalty strokes duel.
In the tie-breaker, Central converted through Ranjeeta, Kavita Vidyarthi and Renuka Yadav, Vidyarthi succeeded in scoring again in the crucial sudden death to clinch the win. Freunds managed to score through Ruqqaiya, Madhavi Patil and Meenakshi in the tiebreaker, while Madhavi missed in the sudden death.
Central Railway received the ‘Champion’ trophy and cash prize of Rs 18,000 from Guest of Honour, Lalitha Pinto, a former Western Railway player. Freunds were presented with the runners-up trophy and a cash award of Rs 12,000.
Results
(Women’s final): Central Railway 6 (S. Ranjeeta 3, Kavita Vidyarthi 2, Renuka Yadav) beat Freunds Red 5 (Ruqqaiya Shaikh 3, Madhavi Patil, Meenakshi Agarwal) via the tie-breaker. Fulltime: 2-2.