Gaganpreet hits four in PNB victory
Punjab National Bank and Railway Sports Promotion Board won their respective matches in the 54th Nehru senior hockey tournament at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.
In Pool A matches, PNB defeated Army XI 4-2 while RSPB edged past Indian Air Force 3-2 in the day’s second fixture.
Gaganpreet Singh scored all four goals from penalty corners in PNB’s victory.
Harpreet Singh gave Army XI the lead in the sixth minute with a field goal. The goal spurred PNB and they responded through Gaganpreet in the 14th, 19th and 27th minutes.
In between Gaganpreet’s three strikes, Sanjib Dung Dung converted a penalty stroke to make it 2-2 for Army XI in the 21st minute.
PNB maintained 3-2 advantage at half time. Gaganpreet sealed the victory in the 70th minute.
In the other match, RSPB led 10 at halftime through Raju Pal’s 25th-minute penalty corner conversion.
RSPB then increased the lead to 2-0 two minutes after the break through Manpreet. Naveen Sangwan made it 3-0 in the 40th with a field goal.
The match seemed to be beyond IAF’s reach after the third goal but they made an inspired comeback through Daman, who converted two penalty corners in the 42nd and 56th to give his team hope. But RSPB held on in the closing minutes to clinch a narrow victory.