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Ambedkar hockey: Income Tax blanks Super XI 5-0; to face Vikram Pillay Academy A-team in final
Vikram Pillay Academy secures victory over Food Corporation of India in penalty shoot out
Income Tax, Pune continued their good form in the tournament as they secured a 5-0 victory over Super XI in the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar hockey tournament, at the Major Dhyan Chand hockey poligras stadium, Nehrunagar, Pimpri, on Saturday.
Income Tax will face Vikram Pillay Academy A-team who scored a 2-1 victory in penalty shoot-out over Food Corporation of India. The score was 2-2 at the end of regulation time.
In the first semi-final, it turned out to be an easy outing for Income Tax as they scored goals in every quarter of the game. Goals were scored by Nitin Kumar (12th), Ashutosh Lingesh (22nd) Shivdeep (26th), Sonu Dalal (42nd) and Ashish Chetty (53rd) respectively.
“We have very good team coordination and that helps us a lot. All three departments are doing well so it becomes easy to face any opponent,” said Dalal who scored the third goal of the match. Once Nitin Kumar scored in the 12th minute, Income Tax controlled the match. Solid defence line, along with attacking forward players made thing easier for Income Tax.
“There was pressure at the start of the game but it was released after we scored the first goal,” added Dalal.
After 2-0, at half time, Shivdeep (26th) and Sonu Dalal (42nd) added two more goals to Income Tax tally as the team took 5-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.
“ Our strategy did not work today. We were targeting only forward players but other players from their team scored the goals making the game difficult for us,” said Omkar Musale, captain of Super XI.
Chetty’s goal in the 53rd minute sealed the contest for Income Tax. Later, Vikram Pillay Academy A-team managed to pull out the victory in a penalty shoot out over FCI. Vikram Pillay Academy team is blessed with former Indian players like Vikram Pillay, Vikas Pillay, Yuvraj Walmiki and Devendar Walmiki toiled hard for victory as FCI showed up a great fight before losing in the penalty shoot-out.
Vikram Pillay Academy was first to score when Reuben Kedari (18th) knocked in a penalty-corner. FCI struck back when Venkatesh Devkar (25th) scored to make it 1-1. In the second half FCI took the lead when Rohan Devkar (36th) scored, but within a minute were undone as Devendra Walmiki (37th) scored to make it 2-2. In the penalty shootout, Devendra Walmiki, Shubham Chawre netted for the winners, while Pranit Naik was the lone success that FCI had in their attempts.
