Hockey meet: Defending champions Corps of Signals, RCF Kapurthala advance
Aman Sood
Nabha, December 21
On the 3rd day of the 45th Liberals All-India Hockey Tournament being played at the hockey stadium of PPS, Nabha, West Central Railway, Jabalpur, and Hawks, Rupnagar, were eliminated after losing their matches to Corps of Signals (2-1) and ASC, Jalandhar (2-1), respectively.
In other league matches played today, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Chennai, defeated Namdhari XI (2-0) and Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, swamped CRPF, New Delhi (4-2).
Namdhari XI went down fighting (2-0) to IOB, Chennai, in the first match of the day. Namdharis failed to penetrate the solid bank defence. Vinod Rayer drew the first blood for the Chennai bank (1-0) in the 15th minute when he cut through a couple of defenders to push the ball past goalkeeper Rampal. With both sides adapting defensive tactics, there was no further progress till the 51st minute when Prabhjot Singh scored the second goal for the bank with an accurate hit to give his side a 2-0 win over Namdhari XI. With a draw against J&K Police yesterday, Namdharis now have a bleak chance to qualify for the quarterfinals.
In the second league encounter, RCF Kapurthala overpowered seasoned campaigners CRPF, New Delhi (4-2), with both exhibiting clean and skilful hockey. Railmen went ahead (1-0) in the 7th minute with Deepak Rawat finding the net from a close range. They converted a penalty stroke by Baljinder Singh in the 12th minute to go ahead (2-0). Fullback Hira Singh converted a penalty corner in the 15th minute to lead (3-0). CRPF hit back with counter attacks to reduce the lead (3-2) with goals by Sudhir Horo and Vikram in the 19th and 29th minutes. However, RCF stamped their superiority with another goal by Gauravjit (4-2) who unleashed a powerful short corner hit to sound the board.
Defending champions Corps of Signals defeated West Central Railway, Jabalpur, in a close contest (2-1). The Railway team gained an early lead in the 18th minute through Mohit converting a penalty corner. Moving with precision, Army outfit counter attacked the railway citadel and equalised (1-1) in the 25th minute with Vishwa Thakur putting it past goalie S. Glen in a swift move. The Army men again scored in the 42nd minute (2-1) with speedy winger Jokhanpal hoodwinking a bunch of defenders to beat custodian Glen with a stinging drive.
In the last match, ASC, Jalandhar, went past Hawks, Rupnagar, with a narrow margin (2-1).
Today’s fixtures
10 am Field Hockey, Chandigarh, vs RCF, Kapurthala
11:30 am Corps of Signals, Jalandhar, vs Punjabi University
1 pm SAI, Kurukshetra, vs ASC, Jalandhar
2:30 pm J&K Police, Jammu, vs Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai
