Railway Sports Promotion Board held their nerve in a shootout to end up as Champions of the Hockey India 7th Senior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Men) ‘A’ Division.
In a highly competitive final, both teams started off cautiously, cancelling each other out in the midfield. In a tense and often feisty first quarter, Punjab & Sind Bank struck the first blow, Gaganpreet Singh converting a PC in the 15th minute to give them the lead. Within moments of the second quarter, Amit Rohidas drew Railway Sports Promotion Board level with a PC in the 18th minute. The teams went into halftime level. Despite forcing a high line, and a marked increase in energy neither team could find the breakthrough in the third and fourth quarters taking the game into shootout. Punjab & Sind Bank had experience of the shootout having won one in the quarter-finals. Here though, they couldn’t hold their nerve missing three consecutive attempts. Railway Sports Promotion Board held their nerve, and despite missing the first attempt, Raju Pal, Sheshe Gowda and Nilakanta Sharma scored to give them the victory and the championship for the third consecutive year.
In the first game of the day, played for Bronze Medal, Hockey Punjab beat Hockey Chandigarh 2-1. Hockey Punjab drew first blood, scoring as early was the ninth minute via a Baljinder Singh PC conversion. Sarbjit Singh doubled their lead with a goal at the end of the second quarter to take them into halftime two goals to the good. After a goalless third quarter, Damandeep Singh pulled a goal back for Hockey Chandigarh with a 52nd minute goal. Buoyed by the goal Hockey Chandigarh pushed hard to get level, but Hockey Punjab held firm to deny them any more opportunities and took the win to finish third in the tournament.
About HOCKEY INDIA
HOCKEY INDIA (HI) is the governing body having an exclusive mandate to direct and conduct all activities for both men and women hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India. Headquartered in New Delhi, Hockey India was established on 20th May, 2009 and is affiliated to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF). Committed to the development of Hockey in the country, Hockey India with the assistance of Sports Authority of India and Department of Sports, Government of India, has drawn out a Long-Term Development Programme (LTDP) to train players, provide world-class infrastructure and International exposure besides regular international competition. With its vision to popularize the game and constantly promote it, Hockey India is dedicated to getting our team into the top three in the world.
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