Nagpur News : South East Central Railway (SECR), Dhyanchand Academy, Nagpur, Eagle Sporting, Nagpur and Range Police Nagpur defeated their respective rivals to move into the second round on the opening day of the 1st VHA-Nagpur All India Gold Cup Hockey Tournament on Sunday. The tournament is organized by Vidarbha Hockey Association under the auspices of Hockey India.
In the inaugural match, Shadab Khan scored three goals as VHA Senior Division champion South East Central Railway (SECR) thrashed District Hockey Association (DHA) Akola 8-3. Both the teams were locked at 2-2 at half-time.
SECR took the lead in the 7th minute through Dalbir Singh who converted a penalty stroke. In the 28th minute Shadab Khan scored first of his three goals to make it 2-0. But Akola scored two quick goals in two minutes to draw parity. Sumit Yadav first scored in the 32nd minute and two minutes later again sounded the board to change the ends on equal terms.
However in the second session, SECR scored four goals in space of nine minutes to take the match away from Akola. Mohd Shahid (38th) scored third and three minutes later Shadab scored his second goal in 41st. A minute later, Irshad Mirza scored the fifth goal for the railmen. Sheikh Imran added another to his team kitty and Shadab completed his hat-trick in the 56th. Ankit Bihari sealed the match’s fate scoring second before the final hooter.
Mayur Nimbalkar scored the third goal for his side in the 50th minute.
In second match, Shubham Shendre scored a fine hat-trick to help Eagle Sporting drub DHA Chandrapur 13-0. Shendre scored three goals in space of five minutes. Eagle Sporting dominated the game right from the beginning and scored goals at will. The goal scoring spree started in the 4th minute when captain Gunanand Jha converted a penalty corner. From then on there was no looking back for the Nagpur team as they pumped in five goals in first 35 minutes.
Shendre then hogged the limelight in the second half first converting a penalty stroke in 52nd minute. He slammed the board again two minutes later converting a penalty corner and then completed his hat-trick in 56th minute scoring a field goal.
In the afternoon session, Ganesh Patre scored a hat-trick to give Range Police a huge 8-2 win over District Hockey Association Gondia.
Patre slammed the board in the second half (42nd, 46th and 47th) minute. Amit Yesur scored a brace in 6th and 59th (PC) minute. The other goal scorers for Range Police were Zafar Abdul (47th), Amol Kharambe (63rd) and Rahul Kalambe (67th).
In the last match of the day, Dhyanchand Academy, Nagpur defeated Jalgaon 7-2. Rahul Suryawanshi (4th), Shrikant Kalakoti (14th), Shahbaz Pathan (28th (PC), 43rd), Rahul Kalakoti (33rd, 49th, 68th) bt Jalgaon 2 Shakir Sheikh (40th) Shakir Khan (58th).
Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by GB Indurkar, Additional Commissioner, Sales Tax, Nagpur Zone, Nagpur. DC Garg, CMD, Western Coalfields Limited, Nagpur presided over the function. VHA president BC Bhartia, secretary Vinod Gawai, Vice-president Unnat Khanna, treasurer Ghanshyam Purohit, joint secretary Bhaskar Naidu, Deven Dasture, Satish Fulsunge, DV Talewar and other members were present. The function was conducted by Ravi James while Naresh Sawaitul proposed a vote of thanks.
Results:
1st match: SECR, Nagpur 8 (Dalbir Singh 7th, {PS}, Shadab Khan (28th, 41st, 56th), Mohd Shahid (38th), Irshad Mirza (42nd), Sheikh Imran (44th), Ankit Bihari (70th) bt Akola 3 (Akshay Nimbalkar (32nd, 34th), Mayur Nimbalkar (50th).
Cards: Green: Akola: Sumit Yadav (4th), Sharukh Khan (16th)
2nd match: Eagle Sporting 13 (Gunanand Jha (4th (PC)), Rakesh Khatarkar (6th, 62nd (PC)), Amit Yadav (17th PC), 34th), Krunal Gabne (21st, 42nd), Shubham Shendre (52nd (PS), 54th (PC), 56th), Shakil Sheikh (66th (PC), Amir Sheikh (68th), Mohit Kahtoute (70th) bt Chandrapur 0.
Cards: Green: Eagle Sporting: Amit Yadav (4th), Praful Lohagare (62nd). DHA Chandrapur: Yellow: Sagar Sadbhaye.
3rd match: Range Police, Nagpur 8 (Amit Yesur 6th, 59th (PC), Ganesh Patre (26th, 42nd, 46th), Zafar Abdul (47th), Amol Kharambe (63rd), Rahul Kalambe (67th) bt DHA Gondia 2 Rahul Rajak (14th), Aamid Khan (56th).
4th Match: Dhyanchand Academy 7 (Rahul Suryawanshi (4th), Shrikant Kalakoti (14th), Shahbaz Pathan (28th (PC), 43rd), Rahul Kalakoti (33rd, 49th, 68th) bt Jalgaon 2 (Shakir Sheikh (40th) Shakir Khan (68th).
Cards: Green: Dhyanchand Academy : Wasim Khan, Shahbaz Pathan. Yellow: Rahul Kalakoti.
On Monday: SAI, Sundergarh vs SAIL, Bhilai (7.30 am), Maharashtra XI vs DHA Aurangabad (9 am), Rajnandgaon vs MP Hockey Academy, Bhopal (2.30 pm), Divakar Hockey Academy, Katni vs Northern Railway Lucknow 4 pm.
