Ranchi Rays maintained its winning streak against Uttar Pradesh Wizards to enter its second final in three years of the Hero Hockey India League on Saturday.
Tied 1-1 at the end of the regulation 60 minutes, the tie-breaker (12-11) continued for another 45 minutes before Daniel Beale put one past Wizards goalkeeper and compatriot George Bazeley to settle the matter with the 24th shot in the shootout.
This was the Wizards’ third straight loss in the semifinals of the tournament. The shootout was, in fact, the only interesting period in the match, which was otherwise a battle of attrition between the two sides.
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Wizards sought a penalty corner in the fourth minute and was denied, a loss of their referral power would come back to haunt them in the latter stages.
Rays were the better team in terms of coordination and planning, but it was the Wizards who went ahead through a penalty corner conversion by V.R. Raghunath in the 34th minute. Seven minutes later, Rays captain Ashley Jackson converted a penalty stroke to level the scores.
The tie-breaker turned into another battle of nerves, this time between Bazeley — who was brought on specially for the purpose — and Australian teammate and Rays ’keeper Tyler Lovell as the game went into sudden death.
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After missing and scoring 11 times each, Beale finally broke the deadlock, scoring past Bazeley after Alexander Baart had missed for the Wizards. “It was more a case of no luck at all,” admitted Wizards captain Wouter Jolie. “I can’t remember the last time I was part of such a long shootout. But, bringing Bazeley was not a mistake since we had specially trained him for this. The difference between the top four here is so little that anything can happen. Disappointed, but that’s sport,” Jolie said.
The second semifinal was a contrast. Except for a few chances created by Sardar Singh and Gurbaj Singh, Waveriders hardly threatened the opposition. Sandeep opened the scoring in the third minute off a penalty corner, and Mazzilli doubled the lead in the 36th with a reverse-hit from the top of the D.
The results: Semifinals: Ranchi Rays 1 (Ashley Jackson) bt Uttar Pradesh Wizards 1 (V.R. Raghunath) via shootout; Jaypee Punjab Warriors 2 (Sandeep Singh, Augustin Mazzilli) bt Delhi Waveriders 0.