Krida Prabodhini, GST & Customs, Pune in summit clash

Pune, 1 July, 2023: Krida Prabodhini will lock horns with GST & Customs, Pune in the final face-off of the Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Hockey Tournament 2023, at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium, Nehrunagar, Pimpri on Sunday.

On a day when rain lashed the turf, the semifinals proved to be tough as well as exciting.

The best of the day came in the second semifinal of the day with GST & Customs, Pune staging a comeback 5-4 win over Central Railway via the shoot-out after rallying from a two-goal deficit to end 3-3 in regulation time.

Govind Nag (5th) gave Central Railways the lead off successful a penalty-corner conversion to push GST & Customs, Pune into arrears. However, captain GST & Customs skipper Aniket Gurav (16th) made it 1-1.

Pressing hard, Central Railways struck two in quick succession with Nag (25th) netting off a penalty-corner and Aditya Rasal (28th) scoring a field-goal lead 3-1 at the halfway stage.

The second-half belonged to GST & Customs. Fighting back hard, a brace of goals by Dharambir Yadav (34th – p.c) and later another goal in the 46th minute pushed the match to a draw (3-3).

In the shoot-out, GST & Customs finished with a clean record as Taleb Shaha; Dharambir Yadav; Aniket Gurav; Kunal Dhamal; Harish Shingdi scored their attempts. Railways began with Aditya Rasal failing in his teams first attempt, which turned out to be the decider in end analysis. Goals from Veenet Kamble; Govind Nag; Stephen Swami; Ganesh Patil reduced the margin but went in vain.

Earlier, Krida Prabodhini settled their spot in the final through a penalty-corner conversion and ended the run of Income-Tax, Pune 1-0. The all important goal was struck in the second quarter of the match by Sagar Shingade (22nd). Utilizing the opportunity, Sagar did well to beat the Income Tax goalkeeper Atharva Kamble.

The match thereafter was played with both teams probing each other’s goalmouth only to have no change on the scorecard.

RESULTS

SF-1: Krida Prabodhini: 1 (Sagar Shingade 22nd – p.c) bt Income-Tax, Pune: 0. HT: 1-0

SF-2: GST & Customs, Pune: 3 (5) (Aniket Gurav 16th; Dharambir Yadav 34th – p.c, 46th; Taleb Shaha; Dharambir Yadav; Aniket Gurav; Kunal Dhamal; Harish Shingdi) bt Central Railways, Pune: 3 (4) (Govind Nag 5th – p.c, 25th – p.c; Aditya Rasal – 28th; Veenet Kamble; Govind Nag; Stephen Swami; Ganesh Patil). HT: 1-3

SUNDAY’S FIXTURES

Third Place: Income Tax, Pune v Central Railway, Pune – 3.00pm

Final: Krida Prabodhini v GST & Customs, Pune – 4.30pm