Chandigarh men out, Punjab enter quarters

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 5

Hockey Chandigarh gave away a one-goal advantage to lose 1-3 to The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd in a Pool A match in Gwalior on Tuesday and bowed out of the 9th Hockey India Senior (Men) National Hockey Championship 2019 (A Division).

After skipper Preetinder Singh put Chandigarh ahead in the 23rd minute, Armaan Qureshi’s double (25th, 38th) followed by Shan Keisham’s goal in the 50th minute helped Mumbai win the match and book a place in the quarters along with Pool A toppers Punjab. 

SSCB hold Punjab

Earlier, Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) came from behind to hold defending champions Hockey Punjab to a 3-3 draw but failed to make it to the last-eight.  

India striker Ramandeep Singh, making a comeback to the competitive hockey after a long injury lay-off, scored the first goal for Hockey Punjab in the 10th minute but Biraj Ekka helped Services Sports Control Board restore the parity in the 24th minute. 

Though Punjab struck two crucial goals through Rupinder Pal Singh (29th) and Akashdeep Singh (34th) to take a 3-1 lead, Ekka and Rajant struck in the 38th and 57th minutes respectively to help Services split points.

Hockey Haryana, Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), Punjab & Sind Bank, Air India Sports Promotion Board and Hockey Karnataka also advanced to the last-eight stage.

RSPB, PNB advance 

In a Pool C match, RSPB drew with Punjab National Bank 3-3. 

Punjab National Bank too made a late surge to overcome a 1-3 deficit to hold the RSPB, who had taken an early 1-0 lead through Ajmeer Singh (2nd) and followed it with a brace from Dilpreet Singh (16th, 44th). 

It was Gurjinder Singh’s splendid double in the 4th and 57th minutes and Sanjay’s 48th-minute goal that helped them draw the match. 

Both the teams though made it to the quarterfinals.  

In another Pool C match, Punjab & Sind Bank beat Hockey Gangpur-Odisha 3-2. Jaskaran Singh (8th), Prabhdeep Singh (12th) and Varinder Singh (32nd) scored for the bankers while Suman Kujur (19th) and Joseph Toppo (45th) struck for Hockey Gangpur-Odisha. 

PSPB among last-eight 

PSPB drubbed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) 10-2. Harmanpreet Singh (7th, 26th, 53rd) scored a hat-trick, while Mandeep Singh (25th, 50th) struck a brace for PSPB.

Simranjeet Singh (18ht), Talwinder Singh (44th), Varun Kumar (47th), Gurjinder Singh (55th) and Sumit Kumar (55th) added a goal each to the PSPB tally. 

Jayant Tirkey (49th) and Saroj Ekka (60th) scored for CRPF.

Imran Khan (17th, 35th, 48th, 57th), meanwhile, scored four goals to help Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) Of India thump Hockey Bhopal 8-0 in a Pool B match. 

Bundela SS (1st), Manish Yadav (16th), Deepak Singh (20th) and Nithin Thimmaiah (53rd) scored a goal each for CAG.

Karnataka beat Odisha 3-2

In a crucial Pool D match, Hockey Karnataka overcame Hockey Odisha 3-2. Former India drag-flicker VR Raghunath (25th, 31st) struck a double while Skipper SV Sunil (56th) struck once to ensure Karnataka overcame a 0-2 setback to win 3-2 and make it to the quarterfinals.   

Air India Sports Promotion Board, meanwhile, registered a 5-3 win over Canara Bank in another Pool D match.