BSF to face off Punjab Police in hockey meet quarterfinal

Patiala, December 21

ASC-Jalandhar defeated Jarkhar Academy 2-0, Punjab Police eased past Rock Rovers 2-1, BSF crushed J& K Police 4-1, and EME prevailed over PSPCL 2-1 on the fourth day of the 46th GS Bains Liberals All India Hockey Tournament being held at the PPS Grounds.

Seasoned ASC Jalandhar carved out a 2-0 win over a struggling MSK Academy Jarkhar in their league encounter to enter the quarterfinal stage. Captain S Toppo scored the first goal (1-0) for ASC in the 20th minute with a stinging shot from the top of the circle. Academy boys tried hard but miserably failed to outwit the Army men’s solid defence. ASC completed a 2-0 win with substitute Chandan sounding the board.

The second match of the day saw the talented Rock Rovers-Chandigarh get the better of Punjab Police-Jalandhar with a narrow 2-1 margin. The Chandigarh lads jumped to a 1-0 lead in the 5th minute, with centre forward Harmanpreet Singh finding the net after collecting a pass from inside right Balwinder Singh. The policemen worked hard and equalised (1-1) in the 19th minute when Karanbir dodged past a couple of defenders in the D and beat goalkeeper Sahil with a soft push into the goal. Both teams tried to break the deadlock, but defensive tactics by them did not yield any result until the 39th minute in the third quarter, when inside left Raman took advantage of a police defensive lapse and sounded the board past goalkeeper P Malhotra after getting past a bunch of defenders to give the Rock Rovers a 2-1 lead. The policemen tried hard, but an equaliser eluded them till the final whistle.

The BSF also marched into the quarterfinals with a convincing 4-1 victory over the Jammu & Kashmir Police. Policemen from Jammu seized a chance that came their way in the very first minute as their speedy forward, Karanjit Singh, dashed into the D from the right wing and scored (1-0) after getting past two defenders. After this, it was the BSF that tormented the Kashmir defence lines with constant attacks from both wings. Daljit Singh came good in the 12th minute and full back Harjinder Singh converted a penalty corner in the 28th minute. Kanwarpal shot home in the 51st minute, and Vishal Sharma completed the (4-1) victory for the BSF.

In the last match of the day, EME-Jalandhar managed to get past PSPCL-Patiala 2-1. Sumitpal Singh scored for the former in the 45th and 50th minutes, while Pardeep Bisht scored for the latter in the 18th minute.