Delhi Wizards stun formidable Sher-E-Punjab

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com

JALANDHAR, MARCH 7

Star-sprinkled Sher-E-Punjab suffered a  jolt to their campaign when they lost to Delhi Wizards 1-2 in their fourth match in the Bridgestone World Series Hockey at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium in  Burlton Park here today. It was their first defeat in four matches they have played so far.

Sher-e-Punjab had earlier beaten  Chennai Cheetahs by 5-2 and routed Karnataka Lions by 6-1. However they dropped a point to Pune Strykers as the teams played a 3-3 draw. Still Sher-E-Punjab were leading the table with seven points on the basis of their goal difference. Pune Strykers also have seven points to their credit from three matches they have contested so far.

Delhi Wizards had began their programme with a 3-2 win against Karnataka Lions. However they lost their next two matches to Pune Strykers 1-3 and Chennai Cheetahs 2-5. Today they recorded their second win and have so far garnered six points.

Shers dominated the field of play, created enough chances inside the circle, but found wanting in the art of scoring. Delhi kept their citadel intact when the going was tough and then scored two surprise goals to emerge winners.
Coming back to the game in the second half, Delhi cancelled out the lone lead before Gurwinder Singh struck the match winner in the 63rd minute Mathew Hotchkis struck a field goal in the 22nd minute to put the Shers on top only to see Manoj Antil equalize 18 minutes later. Delhi played their hearts out, and went extra mile to safeguard their cage from the marauding Shers' forward.
Gurwinder Singh played a saviour role for Delhi with his timely stunner off a Shakeel Abbasi's feed eight minutes before the hooter. His forehand shot from top of the circle went in through goalie and a
defender.
Shers controlled the proceedings in the first half. Olympian Rajinder Senior's team moved like a well-oiled machine to tear apart the fragile Delhi defence at will. Mathews on the left wing and Mandeep
Antil on the other wing worked in tandem, entered the circle time and again only to see other forwards let the chances go abegging. Delhi's goalie Kamaldeep Singh showed enough athleticism and anticipation to thwart many goal-bearing moves.
Shers's shortcoming in the penalty corner drills too came to the fore in the spell. Sherss' coach Rajinder used all the arsenal in his disposal -- Olympian Harpal Singh, Junior International Harpreet Singh and and international star Didar Singh - but their best effort fell short. Vivek Singh and Manjeet Kullu supported goalie Kamaldeep Singh in frustrating them and managed to kep their citadel intact.
Shers famed forwards could have made the difference in the first half when they dominated. But it was not to be. Otherwise hawkish Deepak Thakur failed to tap in twice from close range while Gagan Ajit miscued his reverse shot against open cage much to the chagrin of the vast crowd that turned out to see home side's fire work.
The knowledgeable Jalandhar crowd need not wait for long to cherish the moment they were waiting for. Shers's untiring winger Matthews Hotchkis struck the eluding goal in the opening phase of the second
half ((20 min, 1-0). Matthews was till then contended in sending crosses and centres, and for a change was comfortably positioned at the centre of the circle to receive a diagonal pass.
Shers went for the lemon time with this narrow lead.
Delhi showed some urgency to come up and count after the side change. It tightened its midfield. Things started falling in line. Shers started committing mistakes and their harried shots posed no danger to
the visitors.
Shortly after Prabhjot missed a shot, fast and furious Manoj Antil changed the complexion of the game. Much against the run of play, the mercurial forward trapped a freehit from Vikram Kant, drew the goalie
out before sending his forehand home (41 min 1-1).
This equalizer spurred the Shers to change gear. Aggressive Shers pounded the Delhi's citadel relentlessly, but were found wanting in finish. In all, Shers wasted as many as ten penalty corners and twice
the number of shots at goal.
Manjit Kullu was the Player of the match.

Punjab owe it to Bipul Sharma in Vijay Hazare Trophy

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

 CHANDIGARH, MARCH 7

Riding on Bipul Sharma’s all-round performance (4 for 31, 41 not out) Punjab posted a facile five- wicket win over Hyderabad in the quarterfinal match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Palam Ground in New Delhi today. With this win Punjab move up to the semi-finals where they will clash with Bengal on March 10.

 Winning the toss Hyderabad opted to bat and soon lost their opener Ravi Teja who was snapped by wicket keeper  Chandan  Madan off Manpreet  Goni  for 7 . Thereafter T Suman  and  P Akshath Reddy steadied the innings. Left  arm  spinner  Bipul Sharma and right  arm  spinner  Rahul  Sharma  bowled in tandem and restricted the strokeplay of Hyderabad batsman. Rahul Sharma enticed T Suman with a flighted delivery to be stumped by Chandan Madan for 34 off 63 balls inclusive of 2 boundaries.

    P Aakshath Reddy  was snapped by Amitoj  Singh off left arm spinner Bipul Sharma for 37 off 61 balls inclusive of three boundaries., Next man in  Hanuma  Vihari was trapped  in front  by Bipul Sharma for 21 off 37 balls inclusive of 3 boundaries.  At this stage Bipul  Sharma was weaving a web around  Hyderabad batsman and he next disposed off S Ahmed Quadric without troubling the scorer. as he latched on to a catch offered by the batsman off his own bowling.

 Ashish  Reddy was next to go  when he top edged one to Taruvar Kohli of Bipul Sharma for 7. Right arm leg spinner Rahul then trapped P R Singh (5) and P M Ojha (1) in front of the wickets in quick succession . Wicket keeper Ibrahim Khaleel who was holding one end up ,lost his patience as he charged out to Harbhajan Singh to be stumped by Chandan Madan for a well made 46 of 51 balls inclusive of 6 boundaries. Rajwinder Golu brought end to the innings when he had Anwar Khan snapped by Amitoj Singh for 4.

Hyderabad were bowled out for 175 in 49.2 over’s for Punjab Bipul Sharma (4 for 31) and  Rahul Sharma (3 for 40) were the main wicket takers.

 Punjab started with a disasterous note as they lose of their opener batsman Munish Bhatia who was castled by Anwar Khan for 1. They lost Gurkirat Singh (8)  and Mandeep  Singh (4) in quick secession. Chandan Madan  was holding one end up while wickets were falling regularly at the other end.

Taruvar Kohli was trapped by P R Singh for 12 and Amitoj was caught by Hanuma Vihari of Ravi Teja for 16. At this stage Punjab were looking down the barrel, having lost their first 5 wickets with 99 runs on the board. Bipul Sharma now joined opener Chandan Madan and the duo stitched an unbeaten partnership of 80 runs to win the match by 5 wickets,

Chandan Madan remained unbeaten on 78 off 120 balls studied with 10 boundaries while Bipul Sharma made a quick fire unbeaten 41 of 48 deliveries inclusive of 3 boundaries and 3 towering sixes , Punjab scored 179 for 5 in 41.1 overs for Hyderabad Anwar Khan (2 for 49)  and Ashish Reddy (1for 8) were the main wicket takers.

Brief scores:

Hyderabad: 175 all out in 49.2 overs (T. Suman  34, P Akshath Reddy    37, Hanuma Bihari  21, Ibrahim Khaleel   46, Bipul Sharma 4 for 31,  Rahul Sharma   3 for 41).

Punjab:  179 for 5 in 41.1  (Chandan Madan 71 not out, Bipul Sharma 41, Anwar Khan 2 for 19,  Ashish Reddy 1for 8).

NZ and Inter-Zonal Audit Hockey from March 9

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 7 

Accountant General (A&E) Punjab & U.T. Chandigarh is organizing All India Audit & Account North Zone and Inter-Zonal Hockey Tournaments from March 9  to 11 and March 12 to 16, respectively, at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here.

As many as six teams from North Zone -. AG Haryana, AG Jammu & Kashmir, AG Himachal Pradesh, AG Uttar Pradesh, Delhi Audit and AG Punjab will participate in North Zone Tournament.  The North Zone tournament will be played on knockout basis.  Two teams from North Zone will qualify for Inter-Zonal Tournament which will be played in league-cum-knockout basis.

The North Zone Hockey Tournament will be inaugurated by Mr D.S. Nehra, Accountant General (A&E) Haryana on  March 9 at 2.30 p.m..

Haryana Governor to honour 34 NCC cadets

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, MARCH 7
Haryana Governor  Jagannath Pahadia will felicitate 34 NCC cadets including eight girls of Haryana, who participated in Republic Day Parade 2012 at New Delhi, in a special function being organised at Haryana Raj Bhawan on March 13. 
 Cadet Anshekka gambhir won gold medal in firing and R&V Sqn won Inter Directorate Best R&V Trophy  in Republic Day Camp (RDC) 2012.  These cadets participated in the NCC Republic Day Camp (RDC) and Prime Minister’s Rally (PM’s Rally) at New Delhi from  January 1 to 29. 

          The Republic Day Contingent (RDC) -2012 comprising 156 cadets including 36 girls drawn from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh who participated in the RDC camp held at New Delhi returned home as second runners up out of total 17 Directorates participating in the event. Maharashtra Directorate stood first while Karnataka and Goa Directorate remained second.

DAV Club-8 and Coaching Centre-17 in semis

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 7

Coaching Centre, Sector 17 and DAV Club, Sector 18 qualified for semi-finals from group A in the ongoing Chandigarh Senior Men Football Championship at the Sector 17 Football Stadium here.

In the super league matches played today, Chandigarh Coaching Centre eked out a narrow 1-0 verdict against Principal AG (Audit) Punjab while DAV Club outplayed Blue Star Club by 4-0. DAV Club topped their pool while Coaching Centre finished runners-up.

The semi-final line-up is: Pr.AG(Audit) Haryana vs DAV Club and                P.U. Campus vs Coaching Centre Sector 17

Coaching Centre Sector 17, Chandigarh beat Pr.AG(Audit) Punjab by  1- in the crucial league match. Audit Punjab were experienced and played against a young side which matched their seniors in every department of the game. Coaching Centre started putting pressure from the kick off, but the tough defence of Audit Punjab managed by National layer Deepak did not allow them to do any harm.

 Coaching Centre mounted more pressure and managed to break the  defence of their rivals in 25^th minute when their right winger Bhupinder gave a through pass to right striker Deepak Hooda whose powerful shot was deflected by Audit Punjab goal-keeper and hit the goal post and went out. It was a narrow  escape for Audit goal.

The first half remained goal- less.

After lemon break the Coaching Centre boys started the game on a promising note when their right striker Deepak sent a diagonal pass to midfielder Saurav who sent a cross in the dangerous area of Audit goal. The speedy right winger Bhupinder trapped the cross on his chest and made a powerful volley in the far corner of Audit goal post and scored the match winning goal for Coaching Centre team.

Encouraged by by this goal coaching centre boys tried to increase the tally  but a dangerous shot of right winger Bhupinder of Coaching Centre was punched  over the goal post by the Audit goalkeeper at the cost of corner kick. The Audit forward line failed to equalize the score in spite of best efforts.  

In the second match DAV Football Club beat Blue Star Club by 4-0 in a one sided match. DAV boys were better in all departments of the game and played a coordinated game. Blue Star boys initiated a dangerous move in second minute but failed due to erratic shooting indulged by their forwards.

The DAV boys struck the first goal against Blue Star in 10^th minute when their star striker Munish Mundri opened the account for his team with a powerful shot. DAV Club added two more goals in 16^th minute and 22^nd minutes and the scorer were right half Ajay and left winger Ashok. The winners led 3-0 at half time.

After lemon break DAV scored  completed their tally  in 57^th minute through Sonu who scored the goal with angular shot.

Tomorrow’s fixtures (semi-finals): Pr.AG (Audit) Haryana vs DAV Club (8.00 a.m), P.U. Campus  vs Coaching Centre Sector 17 (3.00 p.m).

Mumbai Marines rally to cage Chennai Cheetahs

  by sportswire4u.blogspot.com
CHENNAI, MARCH 6
Spirited Mumbai Marines came back from a goal down to tame Chennai Cheetahs 4-2 in the Bridgestone World Series Hockey on Tuesday.
Braving the early setback, Mumbai came out with matching strategy to maul the home side to garner second win in four matches. Marines proved they count, and are no longer pushovers. This denied Chennai its third victory in four.
Devinder Walmiki, Anup Anthony, Ajmir Singh and Bimal Lakra posted a goal apiece in the 10th, 30th, 40th and 53rd minutes. Imran Warsi and Sunil Yadav netted for Cheetah’s in the 3rd and 66th minutes, respectively.
The home side matched the Marines on every count, but lacked acumen at penalty corner drills. While Mumbai made use of three out of four penalty corners, the Cheetahs wasted four of them, striking only from the first and sixth.
Jaded in frontline, sluggish in defence, Chennai disappointed large stands in the first World Series Hockey encounter the hockey crazy metro, hosted today. On the other hand, Ajmir Singh, Viren Rasquinha and Devinder Walmiki played a stellar roll in controlling the pace of the game, break their rivals’ rhythm to ensure Marines’ memorable win.
Viren in particular showed his class; the way he intercepted Imran Warsi’s penalty corner in the fourth quarter was a treat to watch.
Performance such as this paved for Marines’ glory in Chennai.
Contrarily, the Cheetahs were on top gear from the moment the ball was set on motion on the sprightly turf of Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai. It paid dividends. The home team worked on its strength -- penalty corners -- keeping man in form Syed Imran Warsi in mind.
Captain Brent Livermore cleverly manufactured a penalty corner quickly, and let the danger man to do the rest. Imran’s delayed drag flick found home through the stretched legs of captain-goalkeeper Adrain D’Souza (4th min, 1-0).
Gangling youngster Devinder Walmiki -- he missed the previous match due to a nasty tackle on his stomach -- returned to play today, and right earnestly rescued the team from further damage. Dashing and full of dodge, he trimmed the wagging tails of Cheetahs and their defence for once came under stress.
A wrong tackle resulted, leaving German umpire Mark Knulle to award a penalty corner of which Devinder struck (10th min, 1-1). The goal changed the dynamics of the game and it was Marines all the way till then.
Marines pounded Cheetah’s citadel relentlessly, mostly from right flank. A goal looked imminent and it was through the stick of substitute Anup Anthony (24th min 2-1).
A forward took a shot at the cage, goalie Jasbir Singh dived to his left, and tackled only to yield a short rebound. Anup, who was just substituted by coach Ashish Ball a minute before, trapped it, and hit hard before falling for the all important lead.
Late in the second quarter, Knulle had to stop the game after spotting 12 Marines on the field of play. He had no option than to flash yellow card to captain Adrian, later changed to Shashi Toppo.
In the third quarter, played on fast pace, Marines went up twice. Alert and opportunistic Ajmir Singh deflected the ball home in an indirect penalty corner drill (40th min, 3-1) and then veteran Bimal Lakra showed his class in the set piece drill
Chennai played a good fourth quarter, but the frontline did not measure up to the task. Local lad Veerasamy Raja in particular messed up two sitters, and then Imran Warsi’s magic did not work beyond his 3rd minute strike.
Marines’ Troy Sutherland was the man of the match.

PU Campus and AG Haryana enter semis

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com        

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 6

Panjab University Campus overcame a stiff resistance from Principal .AG (Audit) Haryana before scoring  a hard-fought 1-0 verdict in a Super League match of the Chandigarh Senior Men Football Championship being organized by the Chandigarh Football Association at the Sector 17 Football Stadium here toay.

 Both teams were equally balanced and played aggressive football. The P.U. Campus boys started the match with aggressive note and made a dangerous move in 5^th minute. Right winger Harkirat gave a pass to Jaspreet whose powerful shot was well collected by Audit Haryana goal-keeper Kulwinder Singh. In a counter move Audit Haryana forward Varinder Kanwar unleashed  a powerful shot which hit the goal post and went out.

The ball move from one half to another as the defence of both teams stood firm not allowing the rivals any liberty to do harm. The Audit Haryana players were playing positional and possessive football by making shot passes among themselves and the P.U. Campus boys were playing long and shot passes. As the action was confined to midfield, the first half failed to produce any goal.

On resumption, the teams tried to control the game and made dangerous moves. However, the efforts of P.U. Campus boys proved fruitful when they managed to score the match winning goal in 75^th minute through Jashanpreet whose first time shot did not allow the Audit goalkeeper Kulwinder Singh to move from his position and ball went into the empty goal.

 Stung by this goal Audit Haryana Boys tried hard to equalize but failed in their attempts and P.U. Campus won the match by 1-0 and earned three valuable points and remained at the top position in Pool-B and Pr. AG(Audit) Haryana got the second position. Both teams qualified for semi-final matches.

In the second Super League match Youth Club  Sector 30 beat Sports Club Sector 23  by    3-1. Youth  Club were the better side and scored two quick goals in 28^th and 37^th minutes and the scorer was Arshdeep who scored both goals with solo efforts.

After the lemon break Sports Club tried hard to reduced the margin but their forwards fumbled at the crucial time and missed many golden chances. Right Striker Gagan of Sports Club scored with solo efforts in the 50^th minute. Youth Club managed to score  3^rd goal in the dying minutes and the scorer was right wingerTenzen.

Tomorrow’s fixtures: Pr. AG. Audit (Punjab) vs Coahing Centre-17 (1.00 p.m) and DAV Football Club vs Blue Star Club (3.00 p.m.).