Excellency Academy defeated Prabhakar Aspat Academy 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to enter the final of the first Friendship Cup invitational hockey tournament at Major Dhyan Chand hockey stadium, Pimpri on Tuesday.
The match was locked one-all at the end of regulation time. In the penalty shoot-out, Darshan Gawkar, Romesh Pillay, Prince Chaursiya and Aniket Muthaya scored for Excellency Academy while for Prabhakar Aspat Academy, Filipa Baa and Naveen Kirdkel managed to score a goal each.
In final, Excellency Academy will face Krida Prabodhini who defeated Income Tax Pune 3-1.
In the first semi-final, Prabhakar Aspat Academy took the lead with Filipa Baa scoring in the 13th minute. Three minutes later, Excellency Academy equalised with the goal from Ruben Kedari.
After one-all, both the teams had few chances but failed to convert into the goal as later match was decided in penalty shoot-outs.
Gawkar who scored a penalty shoot-out for Excellency Academy said, “It was only possible with the help of complete team effort and good team coordination. I am happy as our team has qualified into finals and the aim is to lift the trophy.”