Ranchi Rays won the third edition of the Hero-Hockey India League here, emerging a 2-2 (3-2) victor edging Jaypee Punjab Warriors in the tie-breaker.
For the second time in as many days, Ranchi had to fend off the opposition in the shoot-out and goalkeeper Tyler Lovell was yet again the man of the moment, saving three shots to ensure the success. With the teams tied 2-2 in regulation time, Daniel Beale and Ashley Jackson scored for Ranchi in the tie-breaker, Jackson also scoring off a penalty stroke after Manpreet Singh was fouled by Jaap Stockmann. For Punjab, only Dharamvir Singh and Christopher Ciriello could score.
The first penalty corner of the game came in the 34th minute, but Sandeep Singh’s shot was palmed away by Ranchi goalkeeper Tyler Lovell.
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It took a brilliant effort from Govers to break the deadlock in the 38th minute. The Australian striker struck a powerful shot on the run immediately after entering the striking circle, putting the ball through Lovell's legs to give Punjab the lead.
Three minutes later, a successful referral and penalty corner for Ranchi saw Stanley Minz slapping in a rebound for the equaliser. The game further picked up momentum in the final quarter as both teams went all out for a winner. The efforts produced two goals in less than a minute. Punjab went ahead through a penalty-corner conversion by Christopher Ciriello in the 55th minute and even before the celebration died down, Barry Middleton made it 2-2 after being put through by Mandeep Singh on the counter.
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Third place play-off: Delhi Waveriders 2 (Rupinder Pal Singh, Yuvraj Walmiki) bt Uttar Pradesh Wizards 1 (Nikkin Thimmaiah).