E-Paper
Ambedkar hockey tournament in Pune: Super XI knock BEG in penalty shoot-out, enter semi-finals
Super XI played a draw 2-2 against formidable Bombay Engineers Group, Khadki in regular time before winning the ensuing penalty shoot-out
Super XI sprung a surprise by downing fancied Bombay Engineers Group (BEG), Khadki, while Income Tax, Pune had an easy outing against Prabhakar Aspat Academy to advance into the semi-finals of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar hockey tournament.
On Wednesday, a determined Super XI did well to play out a 2-2 draw against BEG, Khadki in regular time before winning the ensuing penalty shootout at the Major Dhyan Chand hockey stadium, Nehru Nagar-Pimpri. In the penalty shootout, Super XI netted four goals and BEG managed to score only two.
The match was two goals each at the end of regulation time. In the shootout, Amol Bhosale, Uday Baramitikar, Omkar Musale and Akash Sopkal scored for Super-XI, while Avaish Kumar and Ajit Shinde were the goal scorers for BEG Khadki.
Kanchan Rajbhar of BEG Khadki opened the game at the 10th minute scoring a penalty corner with the help of a straight injection from Laxman Kare from the left corner.
Akash Sapkal helped his team Super-XI with a penalty stroke into the nets at the 26th minute to level the score 1-1 by the end of half-time.
As the game resumed, Sapkal added one more to team Super-XI’s trolley in the 31st minute by hitting a penalty corner into the nets.
In the 33rd minute, Rishab Sahu with the assistance of Harish Sapkal who cycled the ball from left-corner to baseline before passing in front of the goalpost, from where Sahu’s gentle diving push helped BEG Khadki to equalise the score 2-2 by the end of the regulation time.
In the penalty shoot-outs, Super-XI hit four goals in the nets and BEG Khadki managed to hit only two goals in the nets.
Player of the match
It was a tough match. Our team is regularly practising and will focus on half court with a counter strategy in the next game, says Akash Sapkal, Super-XI
Players say
The team played under pressure due to repeated defeats in a couple of tournaments. Hence, we need to improve the basics and devote more time for practice, says Omkar Musale, captain, Super-XI
The team defended very well, but the finishing did not go good as the pressure kept building up. It’s harder to perform on synthetic turfs as we practice on mud turf, says Basant Tirkey, captain, BEG Khadki