UP go down fighting in title shoot-out
LUCKNOW: There has always been a small difference between being a hero and a villain. Shivam Anand struck a goal in the regulation time to bring Uttar Pradesh back into contention for the title, but by missing a crucial hit during the penalty shoot-out, left his team finishing runnersup.
The drama unfolded in the final of the 9th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship at Aurangabad on Thursday, whereas Hockey Odisha brushed aside Uttar Pradesh Hockey 1-1 (4-3) in penalty shootout to lift the maiden trophy.
It turned out to be a thrilling final with the two teams making attacks and counter attacks on regular intervals, at the Sports Authority of India campus turf in the afternoon.
Repeated efforts to make a dent in rivals danger-in, put paid rich dividends and Sushant Toppy shot a quick one to give Hockey Odisha 1-0 lead almost at the stroke of the second quarter.
This, however, left Uttar Pradesh men stunned as well as forcing them to change the tactics in the summit clash.
A minute before the end of the third quarter, UP’s hero in the semi-final win against Haryana, Shivam Anand hit a brilliant but angular push to level the score in the 44th minute (1-all).
Both sides continued to test each other’s defence with a foray of attacks even then, but to no avail as two custodians were at their best, denying the rivals a number of goal scoring opportunities in the last quarter too.
In penalty shoot-out Uttar Pradesh started with a miss as Uttam Singh failed to find the target.
Though Vishnu Singh, Abhishek Kumar Singh and Gopikumar Sonkar netted the next three chances into goal, Shivam’s crucial hit couldn’t make it to the post.
But for Odisha Hockey, Prakash Dhir, Sushil Dhanwart, Laban Lugun and Krishna Tirkey scored even after a missing by Sunit Lakra on the fourth opportunity.
Earlier, in the day, Haryana defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 2-1 to finish third even as two teams were locked in 1-1 draw at the halftime.
Though it was Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy who made the first breakthrough with a fifth minute goal through Haider Ali, Hockey Haryana remained poised to bounce back with goals by Boby Singh Dhami in the 29th minute and Parmeet in the 39th minute.
They played a disciplined defensive structure to ensure Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy made no potential strikes on goal.
THE DRAMA UNFOLDED IN THE FINAL OF THE 9TH HOCKEY INDIA JUNIOR MEN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP AT AURANGABAD ON THURSDAY, WHEREAS HOCKEY ODISHA BRUSHED ASIDE UTTAR PRADESH HOCKEY 1-1 (4-3) IN PENALTY SHOOTOUT TO LIFT THE MAIDEN TROPHY
SCR WIN
South Central Railway (Secunderabad) won the 1st Padma Shri Mohd Shahid Memorial All-India Hockey Tournament, defeating hosts UP XI by 4-2 in penalty shootout, at the Lalpur Stadium in Varanasi on Thursday.
ONGC (Delhi) finished third by defeating CAG Delhi 3-1.
Both SCR and UP XI were locked in 1-1 draw at the end of the regulation time. The winners pocketed the biggest purse of Rs 2 lakh, whereas as runners-up UP XI and third place holders CAH were awarded Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively.