Hockey Tournament: Indian Oil in final by beating Indian Navy

6-4, at the ‘Gooncha 57th Nehru Senior Hockey Tournament’!

Hyderabad, Nov 22 (Maxim News): The first semi-final of the ‘Gooncha 57th Nehru Senior Hockey Tournament’, being hosted at the SCR Sports Complex, Secunderabad, was played between the winner from Pool ‘A’ Indian Oil and the runner-up from Pool ‘B’ Indian Navy. The tournament favourite Indian Oil beat spirited Indian Navy during regulation time and moved into finals to be played tomorrow.

Indian Navy, the underdogs who rose from the ranks by qualifying in both the knock out and the league stage, opened their account in the first quarter with a field goal netted by Jugraj Singh, one of the best goals scored in the tournament, in the 12th minute. Another field goal was added in the seconds quarter by Kuldeep in the 20th minute and Indian Navy went for half time with a comfortable 2-0 lead. In the second half, Indian Navy continued to exert pressure on the Indian Oil defence, but it was Manpreet Singh who brought Indian Oil into contention in the third quarter with a field goal in the 42nd minute.

Hockey Tournament

Later in the fourth quarter Talwinder Singh equalised the score for Indian Oil, through a field goal in the 48th minute. With both the teams remaining 2-2 at the end of game, the match had to be extended into regulation time for a shoot-out, to decide the winner.

Manpreet Singh converted the first shootout for Indian Oil, Sunny Malik failed to equalise for Indian Navy. Talwinder Singh increased the lead for Indian Oil to 2-0; Rajbhar Pawan of Indian Navy reduced the margin to 2-1; Raheel Mohd., pumped in a goal to tilt the score in favour of Indian Oil by 3-1. Nitesh made it 3-2 for Indian Navy. Vikramjit Singh of India Oil exceeded the time and the goal was disallowed, Parteek Singh of Indian Navy missed the opportunity and Sumit Kumar clinched the match for Indian Oil by scoring a brilliant goal. Indian Oil led by 4-2 after the shoot out and won the match against Indian Navy by 6-4. Goal Keeper of Indian Oil Pankaj Rajak, was declared the Man of the match.

The star studded India Oil with two Olympians and four World cup players in its ranks, has an enviable legacy in this Tournament, they won the cup 5 times, never been a runner up, they won every time they made it to finals. This is their 6th entry into the finals and an exciting finish to the tournament is on the cards.

Results:

Results: Indian Oil – 6 (Manpreet Singh – 42nd minute – field goal; Talwinder Singh – 48th minute – field goal; Shootout – Manpreet Singh, Talwinder Singh, Raheel Mohd. & Sumit Kumar) beat Indian Navy – 4 (Jugraj Singh – 12th minute – field goal; Kuldeep – 20th minute – field goal; Shootout – Rajbhar Pawan & Nitesh).

Green Card : Jaspal Singh, Indian Navy – 16th minute & Rajat Sharma, Indian Navy – 26th minute

Man of the match : Pankaj Rajak, Goal Keeper, Indian Oil.

About Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society

This Society was incorporated in the fond memory of Independent India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to promote the ecstatic National Game of Hockey. Ever since, no stone was left unturned to take it to a superior league. Gaining appreciation from various quarters. In the years to come the tournament was to be graced by Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Prime Ministers and Union Cabinet Ministers of India. The Nehru Cup matches have keenly been looked forward to and it has been an honour for any hockey team to win the coveted Nehru Gold Cup.

With every passing year, the JNHT Society garnered more attention and attracted new participation. The all- time greats such as Dhanraj Pillay, Pargat Singh, Zafar Iqbal, Ajit Pal Singh and many more have played in the tournament. The exposure given to hockey players by the JNHT Society Tournaments has allowed many of them to go onto the Indian National Hockey Team, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. This includes the recent bronze victory of the Indian National Hockey Team’s Captain, Manpreet Singh who played the Junior and Senior Nehru Hockey Tournaments before getting into the Indian National Hockey Team.

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