Lucknow, Mar 8:
Rajasthan got the better of Gujarat 3-2 to register their first victory in Division A of the 4th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship at Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium here today.
Vijay Thapa of Gujarat scored the first goal of the match in the 14th minute. Gujarat then displayed some great defense to prevent Rajasthan from scoring in the first half.
Going into the break, Gujarat were leading 1-0.
But in the second half, Rajasthan started with great speed and they continued to attack to score the equaliser in the 49th minute. It was Ankit Kishwah, who helped Rajasthan open their account.
In the 60th minute, Purshotam Bagdi netted ball to give Rajasthan a lead.
Gujarat tried coming back in the game but within two minutes of their previous goal, Paramveer Singh Rathore added another one to Rajasthan’s kitty.
In the 66th minute, Gujarat got a penalty strike, which was successfully converted by Vijay Thapa, who scored his second goal of the match. In the final few minutes, Gujarat kept their attack on with the hope of levelling the scores but could not breach the strong defense of Rajasthan.
Gujarat are yet to win a match in the ongoing tournament.
In another Pool A match, Namdhari XI beat Sashastra Seema Bal 1-0 in a close encounter. The lone goal was scored by Gurmukh Singh in the 24th minute.
In the second half, both the teams kept attacking but none were successful in converting their chances.
In a Pool B match, Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd played with a clear intention of winning, and that’s what they ensured by outplaying Himachal Pradesh 4-0.
Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd played an attacking game and in the 19th minute scored their first goal through captain Victo Singh. Manprit Singh Chahal scored the second goal by converting a penalty corner in the 28th minute to give Mumbai an edge going into the half time at 2-0.
In the second session, Himachal Pradesh fought hard but couldn’t convert the chances they got, while Mumbai scored two more goals.
Another Pool B tie saw Jammu & Kashmir thrash Goa 5-0. (PTI)
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