Pune (Maharashtra): The 5th edition of Hockey India Senior Men National Hockey Championship 2015 being played in Pune, Maharashtra started with the domination of tournament favourites over other teams as Delhi Hockey, Namdhari XI and Manipur registered their first win in the tournament. In an evenly contested last match between Bengal Hockey Association and Vidarbha Hockey Association resulted in a draw.


In the first match of the day, Manipur Hockey defeated Hockey Rajasthan by 5-4 in a closely fought match. Manipur’s Hemjit Singh’s two goals helped his team to win the match in the last few minutes. Though Rajasthan drew the first blood in 8th minute when Pradeep Singh Naruka scored the first goal through a penalty corner. Pradeep’s teammate Sanjay Kumawat scored the second goal in 20th minute after he dribbled past the opponent’s defenders and sent the ball in the goal-box.

Trailing by 0-2, Manipur scored two back-to-back goals in 27th and 28th minutes through Dhananjoy Khangembam’s penalty corner goal and Captain Banti Singh’s brilliant field goal. With two goals in two minutes, Manpuris equalised the score 2-2 by the half-time. The Third Quarter started aggressive attacks by Rajasthan team as their star players Purshotam Bagdi and Captain Gurmeet Singh hit two goals in 45th and 51st minute to take the score-line to 4-2. Rajasthan was dominating the match by this time and kept the ball possession in their side.

Manipur, on the other hand, kept attacking in the opponent’s D and were continuously looking for opportunity. Hemjit got the first success in breaching Rajasthan’s defence line and he stunned the defenders by scoring a marvellous goal in 55th minute. With this goal, Manipuris fought back harder and they managed to score another goal in the next minute with the help of Jotin Singh. The whole Manipuri team was pumped-up with the equaliser and they jolted Rajasthan team to the core. In the 58th minute Harjit scored the winning goal and snatched the victory from the jaws of Rajasthan team with impressive score of 5-4.


The second match for the day was a one sided affair as Delhi Hockey slammed 18 goals against Hockey Andaman & Nicobar and taking an easy win. Delhi scored as early as the 1st minute of the game when Simpinder Singh entering the D beat the goalkeeper to score the first goal of the match. This was immediately followed by Lalit slamming in the second goal for the team to double the score. Not loosing hold if the game Delhi Hockey scored the third goal in the 10th minute coming from the stick of Satinder Dalal.

With 3-0 on the scoreboard, Delhi continued their onslaught as they added five more goals before ending the first half with 8-0 on the scoreboard. The second half was no different as Delhi Hockey continued raining goals. It was Pawan Singh Chauhan who started off in the 37th minute and was closely followed by another goal in the 39thminute and this time it was Deepak Kumar to do the honours. 10-0 on the board, Delhi Hockey added eight more goals coming in quick succession, starting the tournament on a high and win.


The Third game between Namdhari XI and Hockey Jammu & Kashmir was again a one sided affair as the former won the game 6-0. While Hockey Jammu & Kashmir gave a tough fight in the first half kept the opponents at bay but Namdhari XI still managed to find the nets on two occasions. The first being in the 10th minute, when a penalty corner for the team was converted by Avtar Singh. The team yet again converted another penalty corner in the 24th minute, this time it was Bhagat Singh Dhillon who helped his team to double the lead.

With scores at 2-0, Namdhari XI came back more strong in the second half as they added four more goals before calling it a day. Prince started the goal scoring session in the 42nd as he struck past the goalkeeper to give his team a 3-0 lead. This was followed by Ganagandeep Singh and Bishan Singh scoring in the 47th and 49thm minute and giving their team a very strong hold in the game. Namdhari XI scored their last goal in the 52nd minute coming from Captain Kuldeep Singh and winning the match on the opening day.


Bengal Hockey Association and Vidarbha Hockey Association played for a draw as the final scores were 3-3. Bengal hockey Association started the game by scoring the first goal in the 7th minute as Rihit Barla ensured a clean pass to him in the D reached the nets through his soft touch. Vidarbha Hockey Association came back into the match as they scored back to back goals in the 33rd and 34th minute as Captain Imran Sheikh converted through field goals. But Bengal Hockey Association made an immediate comeback as they equalised in the very next minute and the first session ended with 2-2. The second half as both teams tried to outwit the other and win the match but was unable to add one goal each as the match ended in a 3-3 draw.


Results of the Day


Pool A – Manipur Hockey 5 Dhananjoy Khangembam (27min-PC), Banti Singh (28min- FG), Hemjit Singh (55min- FG, 58min-FG), Jotin Singh (56min-FG) vs Hockey Rajasthan 4 Pradeep Singh Naruka (8min- PC), Sanjay Kumawat (20min-FG), Purshotam Bagdi (45min-FG), Gurmeet Singh (51min-FG)


Pool B – Delhi Hockey 18 Simpinder Singh (19min-FG, 46min-FG, 60min-FG), Lalit (2min-FG), Rajbir (07min-FG), Ravi (14min-PC, 58min-FG), Pawan Singh Chauhan (17min-FG, 37min-FG, 50min-FG), Satender Dalal (18min-FG, 59min-FG), Sharvan Kumar (24min-FG), Anil Kumar (26min-PC, 54min-PC), Deepak Kumar (39min-FG), Emon Rautela (51min-FG, 57min-FG) vs Hockey Andaman & Nicobar 0


Pool C – Namdhari XI 6 Avtar Singh (10min-PC), Bhagat Singh Dhillon (27min-PC), Price (42min-FG), Gagandeep Singh (47min-FG), Bishan Singh (49min–FG), Kuldeep Singh (52min-FG) vs Hockey Jammu & Kashmir 0


Pool D – Bengal Hockey Association 3 Rihit Barla (07min–FG, 35min-FG), Atanu Saha (50min-FG) vs Vidarbha Hockey Association 3 Imran Sheikh (33min-FG, 34min-FG, 36min-FG)