Day six of the Hockey India 7th Senior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Men) ‘A’ Division rounded off with the final pool fixtures played out, with teams looking forward to continuing into the next round.
In Pool A, Railway Sports Promotion Board beat Services Sports Control Board 4-2. Goals by Ajmer Singh (11′), Affan Yousuf (24′), Raju Pal (53′) and Sheshe Gowda (57′) gave Railway Sports Promotion Board, a comfortable victory, as they confirmed their passage to the next round with a perfect record of four wins.
In Pool C, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy beat Hockey Odisha 4-2. Nikky Kaushal’s hat trick (2′, 15′, 56′) gave Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy their second victory of the tournament.
In Pool D’s opening encounter of the day, Air India Sports Promotion Board beat Association of Indian Universities 5-0. Goals by Shivender Singh (28′), Mohd Umar (33′), Armaan Qureshi (36′, 57′) and Manish Yadav (37′) gave Air India Sports Promotion Board a comfortable three points.
In Pool A’s second game of the day, Namdhari XI and Uttar Pradesh Hockey played out a hugely entertaining 5-5 draw. Captain Harwinder Singh scored a hat trick (6′, 24′, 58′) for Namdhari XI in the encounter. Uttar Pradesh Hockey’s star performer was Tarun Adhikari who scored a brace of goals in the 40th and 53rd minutes.
In Pool C, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd beat Hockey Patiala 3-0 to take their place in the next round, virtue of a better goal difference than Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy. In a must win game, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd put on a stellar performance, driven by Rajendra Pawar’s brace (47′, 49′) and a goal by Manpreet Singh (24′) to take all three points.
In Pool B, Comptroller & Auditor General of India beat Hockey Gangpur – Odisha 5-0. Goals for Comptroller & Auditor General of India were scored by Jagroop Singh (5′), Nithin Thimmaiah (20′, 39′) , Imran Khan (35′) and Md. Naemuddin (51′).
In Pool D Hockey Haryana beat Hockey Karnataka 3-2 in a hugely entertaining encounter. Goals by Jagwant Singh (4′), Gagandeep Singh (19′) Jonny Jasrotia (37′) gave Hockey Haryana a comfortable 3-0 lead. Hockey Karnataka rallied back through and goals by Pruthvi Raj (44′) and AP Siraj (56′) threatening a comeback. Hockey Haryana held strong though to take the victory.