The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Namdhari XI regains trophy

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Tuesday, Dec 04, 2007
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Namdhari XI regains trophy

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

GREAT OCCASION: This was the Namdharis’ first win in the tournament since 1992.

NEW DELHI: Namdhari XI won the Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament defeating Punjab National Bank 3-2 in the tie-breaker after a 1-1 stalemate in regulation time in the final at the Shivaji Stadium here on Monday. It was only the second time that the Namdharis were winning the trophy, having won it in 1992 and finishing runner-up in 1993.

Perseverance paid off for Namdhari XI after it fell behind in the opening minute of the second half through a goal by Yudhveer Singh whose reverse hit found the mark after a run down the left by the hard-working Pramod Kumar.

Though PNB looked sharper in the attacks almost throughout the match, its forwards could not finish the job and quite a few chances were frittered away, especially in the second half.

Namdhari XI, on the other hand, forced a series of penalty corners including seven in the first half, without being able to breach the rival defence. Though a few variations were tried by the Namdharis during the penalty corner sequences, PNB goalkeeper Jasbeer Singh managed to thwart most of the attempts.

Ten minutes from the end, after it had wasted its ninth and last penalty corner, Namdhari XI equalised, with Karamjit Singh finding Bachitar Singh with a short pass inside the circle and the latter driving home to the delight of his team-mates.

Fading light ruled out extra time and the tie-breaker marked a series of misses on either side before Gurvinder Singh clinched it for Namdhari XI by converting his side’s last ’stroke. Amolak Singh and Sher Singh were the other scorers for the winner.

Gurcharan Singh and Harpal Singh missed.

For PNB, only Yudhveer and Jatinder Saroha succeeded, with the first and last ’strokes. In between, poor attempts by Gagan Preet Singh, Bikas Topo and Banmali were blocked by goalkeeper Harjinder Singh.

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