Badshahs script a brilliant 4-4 draw against Comets

Bhopal: In an incredible fight back, , Bhopal Badshahs  scripted an unbelievable draw after trailing 4-0 at halftime against Chandigarh Comets in a World Series Hockey encounter here on Saturday. Their gutsy goalkeeper Baljit Singh brought a brilliant save against Pakistani star Rehan Butt, who had an empty goal post in front and was about to make it 5-0. Shailendra Singh Bundela led the fight back for the hosts with two goals, with the final one coming off an unexpected deflection at the last minute which took the Comets goalkeeper completely by surprise.

Everything went right for Comets in the first half. All the three penalty corners were converted before colt Amir Khan added one through field effort. With a mountain to climb in the second session, Badshahs struck twice a goal apiece from Affan Yousaf and Sameer Dad before Shailendra Singh Bundela cleverly made use of two penalty corners to see his side not only escape from defeat but also salvage a point from what appeared a hapless situation.

Comets fructified their first penalty corner, though it was difficult to aver whether it was by design or fluke. Gurjinder Singh got the pushed ball with a bad stop, could not take the shot, yet in the spur of moment, sent it gently backwards to Sukhwinder ‘Gabbar’ Singh. The Canadian star lost no time to grab the chance, and whacked a deceptive forehand that crashed into the middle of the net.

The hard working Bharat Chhikara fetched the second penalty corner. Gurjinder Singh’s delayed shot first hit the charger’s stick, but on deflection menacingly veered towards the net. Goalie Baljit Singh jumped to block, yet the ball bounced off his right hand to hit the roof of the net, giving an idea of the power that Gurjinder packed in his drag flick.

The second goal spurred the Badshahs, they created chances from left flank and had  better share of the attacks. Still the goals eluded them. First Lalit Upadhyay’s forehand from left of the circle hit the other post, and then an alert Ajitesh Roy made a couple of goaline saves.

In the early moments of second quarter, Sukhwinder Singh added another when a rebound landed right on his footsteps in the third penalty corner drill. The goalie was already beaten and laid on the ground as Sukhwinder kept his shot high and deceptive.

However, livewire Affan Yousaf breathed life into the Badshahs four minutes into the lemon time. Covering his ball from chasing Jiwa Mohan, Affan entered the D from the centre to hit a reverse. Five minutes later, Lalit surged into the circle from the right flank, sent a parallel pass. Pakistan’s former captain Mudassar Ali Khan, who played his first WSH encounter today, showed his class, teamed with the solid medio Waseem Ahmed to create enough chances for the Badashahs to salvage their prestige.

Badshahs coach Vasudevan Baskaran deployed a new man for executing the penalty corner in the 60th minute to a thunderous applause. Bundela played a perfect saviour role to send a grounder that brought the score  to 4-3 and then posted another one six minutes before the hooter to engineer the best draw of the tournament in its three weeks of existence.

Schedule for March 25: Chennai Cheetahs vs Sher-E-Punjab at Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, Chennai, 7pm; Bhopal Badshahs vs Mumbai Marines at Bhopal; 9pm. Live on Neo Sports.