Pune Hockey Match: SNBP Academy, Army Boys enter semis

PUNE, 5th October 2023: Hosts SNBP Academy, last years’ runners up Dhyanchand Academy, newcomers Round Glass Academy and Army Boys Sports Company stormed into the semifinals with contrasting wins in the 7th SNBP All-India Hockey Tournament (Boys’ Under-16) at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi here on Thursday.

The tournament is being organised by the S.E Society’s SNBP Group of Institutes’ under the aegis of Hockey India and Hockey Maharashtra.

Host’s SNBP Academy led by three-goal scorer Satyam Kumar Patel (35th, 39th, 49th) had it easy in the last of the semifinals of the day and downed Bhongir Academy Telangana 11-0 in a totally one sided affair to complete the line-up. The scoreline was by far the highest among the quarterfinals played out.

However, The biggest upset of the day was inflicted by Army Boys Sports Company who put out 2022 winners Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar 4-3 in the shootout after sharing four goals in regular time.

For ABSC, Nitesh Sharma (18th) and skipper Manjeet (41st) showed their accuracy off penalty-corners, which was neutralized by Jasmeet Singh (37th) and (51st) in similar fashion off penalty-corners for SGPC to push the game into the shoot out to decide.

In the ensuing shootout, ABSC had Harpal, Nitesh Sharma, Arsh Ali and Samir scored, whereas Sanchit Horo was the lone player to be denied.

For SGPC, Jasmeet Singh, Harjit Singh, Goyaldeep Singh converted their attempts, while Himmat Singh, Sumanpreet Singh failed with their respective tries.

In the morning session, last year’s runners-up Dhyanchand Academy and first timers Round Glass Academy scored six goals to register easy wins over their opponents and book last-4 berths.

The day began with Dhyanchand Academy locking a 6-0 win over RK Roy Academy with Kallu Ali (3rd) opening the scoring and later three more (17th and 35th) off penalty-corner conversions and 40th minute. Giving Kallu company on the scoresheet was Mithalesh Yadav (37th) and Abdul Kadeer (47th).

Joining in the semifinal round was Round Glass Academy who scored a one-sided 6-2 win over Sports Hostel Jhansi. The win was led by four-goal feats by Inderjit Singh (6th, 36th – p.c) and Amandeep Singh Amandeep Singh 21st – p.c; 36th, 37th – p.c, 41st, 47th – p.c). Sports Hostel Jhansi reduced the margin via Anurag Singh (18th – p.c and 31 – p.c).

RESULTS (Quarterfinals)

QF-1: Dhyanchand Academy: 6 (Kallu Ali 3rd, 17th – p.c; 35th – p.c, 40th; Mithalesh Yadav 37th, Abdul Kadeer 47th) bt RK Roy Academy: 0. HT: 2-0

QF-2: Round Glass Academy: 6 (Inderjit Singh 6th, 36th – p.c; Amandeep Singh 21st – p.c; 36th, 37th – p.c, 41st, 47th – p.c) bt Sports Hostel Jhansi: 2 (Anurag Singh 18th – p.c; 31 – p.c). HT: 2-1

QF-3: Army Boys Sports Company: 2,4 (Nitesh Sharma 18th – p.c, Manjeet (C) 41st – p.c; Harpal, Nitesh Sharma, Arsh Ali and Samir) bt Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar: 2,3 (Jasmeet Singh 37th – p.c, 51st – p.c; Jasmeet Singh, Harjit Singh, Goyaldeep Singh). HT: 1-0

QF-4: SNBP Academy: 11 (Flavius Tirkey 9th, 18th – p.c; Akash Patel 24th 58th; Shubham Rajbhar 25th; Bishnu Koley 29th- p.c; Satyam Kumar Patel 35th, 39th, 49th; Kundan Routh 43rd; Sumit Barwa 54th – p.c) bt Bhongir Academy Telangana: 0. HT: 5-0

SEMIFINAL LINE UP

SF-1: Dhyanchand Academy v/s Round Glass Academy

SF-2: Army Boys Sports Company v/s SNBP Academy