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Bhopal:
Mumbai were crowned Indian National Hockey Champion once again after
21 years when they defeated a spirited Haryana team 3-2 in the
summit clash to lift coveted Rangaswamy Cup in the 63rd edition of
the tournament played here under floodlights at the historical Aishbagh stadium on Sunday night.
Three-time champions Mumbai regained the title after 21 years as
they had their last national title in 1989. If Mumbai called the
shots in the first session of the 70 minutes encounter, Haryana gave
a harrowing time to their opponents to keep them on tenterhooks till
the hooter.
Mumbai's Gursev Singh and Alden D'Souza were declared Player of the
Tournament and Man of the Match respectively. The other ranking and
awards of the championship included : Second Runners-up: Tamil Nadu;
Best Forward: Vikas Choudhary (Madhya Pradesh State Men’s Hockey
Academy); Best Defender: Roshan Kaisham (Mumbai); Best Midfielder:
Gurusev Singh (Mumbai); Best Goalkeeper: Sudhir Dixit (Mumbai) and
Promising Team: Madhya Pradesh State Men’s Hockey Academy.
Madhya Pradesh Sports & Youth Welfare Minister presented the prizes
after the final match was over. BJP lawmaker Vishwas Sarang presided
over the prize distribution function. Sports Director Sanjay
Choudhary was present amongst others on the occasion. The National
Championship was organized under the aegis of Madhya Pradesh Sports
& Youth Welfare Directorate.
Alden D'Souza did the good work for Mumbai in the 22nd minute after
Laxman Rao did all the spadework from midfield up to the striking
circle. Rao relayed the ball to unmarked D'Souza who did the
necessary with a reverse flick to beat the Haryana custodian from a
difficult angle to the delight of his teammates and a thunderous
applause from the spectators (1-0).
Haryana labored hard to find the equalizer but the Mumbai defense
line, combining skipper Conroy Remedios, Sumeet Topno and Gursev
Singh, kept them at bay and did allow them to have clear look at the
goal posts. The two teams trooped out for lemon-break with Mumbai
leading 1-0 at the breather.
Six minutes from the restart midfielder Gursev Singh continuing his
excellent form converted a penalty stroke for Mumbai in the 41st
minute of the match to consolidate the team’s lead (2-0). However,
two minutes later Haryana team reduced the goal margin when Munish
Rana with a superb solo effort (1-2).
D'Souza hoodwinked the Haryana defenders in the 53rd minute of the
game to score a superb field goal to complete his brace and Mumbai
forged ahead (3-1). Soon after in the 55th minute Haryana’s Hansraj
bulged the net following the penalty corner awarded to the team to
make it (3-2). Haryana in the last quarter dished out some excellent
hockey to put Mumbai under pressure and missed the target narrowly a
few times to take the match into extra time. Mumbai defended their
citadel stoutly to emerge winners and be crowned champions.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu finished third in the tournament after edging
past Chandigarh 3-2 in the hard-line match, which also saw Olympian
Adam Sinclair being banned for the next edition of the tournament.
The match began after a scuffle
between the Tamil Nadu players, led by Sinclair, and some of the
officials and the grounds-men over a minor issue. The officials
asked the players to change the dug-out but they refused following
which heated exchanges took place and Tamil Nadu players attacked
the officials and grounds-men, tournament officials alleged. The
fracas delayed the start of the match by 30-minutes and the
Tournament Director Peter Menezes banned Tamil Nadu skipper Sinclair
from the next edition, holding him responsible for the violence.
(pervezbari@eth.net)
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