The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Central Region bags title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 02, 2006

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Central Region bags title

BANGALORE: Central Region won the title in the Sports Authority of India all-India inter-region hockey tournament beating host Southern region via tie-breaker. The teams were tied 2-2 in regulation time.

Central region broke through Southern's defence with Vivek scoring in the 28th minute. Two minutes before the short break, Nilesh levelled the scores for the home team.

V. Raghunath, doing duty for Southern region after appearing in the Premier Hockey League in Chandigarh, slotted a penalty corner push in the 57th minute and the host looked like carving out a hard fought win.

Central Region looked like losing its chances and with only a minute to go for the final whistle, a last ditch opportunity arrived. Vivek Soni took the last minute penalty corner amidst mounting tension and was bang on target to end the regulation time with a thrilling draw.

The tie-breaker was effected and Aloke Visi, Taj Khan and Shadab Khan all scored for Central Region while South's strikers VR Raghunath and Nilesh hit wide of the goal while Sampath's push hit the post.

Earlier in the morning, Eastern Region proved to be far superior to Western Region scoring a 3-0 win for the third spot. Tanmali Xess (23rd), Theodore Baa (33rd) and Noel Tirkey (59th) scored for East.

The following players were nominated Best Upcoming Players: Taj Khan (Central), Nilesh (Southern), Shadab Khan (Central) and Theodar Baa (East).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail