<p>Namdhari, playing their first match of the tournament, started as favourites but came out with a rather disjointed effort, seeing them eventually holding off a spirited MLI to earn themselves a point at the KSHA Stadium.</p>.<p>Both goals in the match came off penalty corners with MLI striking first off captain Sunil Kumar in the 30th minute and Harpal Singh equalising for Namdhari in the 51st.<br />The match started with MLI making the early running with Sunil calling the shots in the midfield. But the cutting edge was lacking for Armymen, who missed six penalty corners.<br />Namdhari had the best scoring opportunity of the first half, when Harpal’s penalty corner drive was brilliantly blocked on the goalline by MLI defender Irfan Sanadi.<br /><br />The deserved goal for MLI came in the 30th minute through a short corner after some good work from Nilesh Wadkar, which was duly slammed in by Sunil.<br /><br />The second half also went along the same lines with Namdhari struggling to get a stranglehold on the game and MLI failing to create any clear-cut chances. Namdhari’s urgency gave them a good opportunity to score but Gurbhag Singh missed a sitter in the 50th minute after a good foray from Gurpreet Singh. The equaliser finally arrived for Namdhari off a penalty corner, their fourth of the game, when Harpal Singh struck a strong low shot, which beat the MLI goalkeeper Palaksha.<br /><br />MLI though could have snatched all three points, but Sunil failed to convert a penalty stroke with eight minutes left in the game, leaving both teams to share the honours.<br /><br />Other results: SAI: 8 (Deepak Bijwad 7th, Nikkin Thimmaiah 23rd, 53rd, Pradhan Somanna 26th, 28th, 45th, MG Poonacha 33rd, 49th) bt MEG: 2 (Poovanna 17th, CU Bopanna 58th); MLI: 1 (Sunil Kumar 30th PC) drew Namdhari XI: 1 (Harpal Singh 51st PC); Air India: 8 (Sameer Dad 6th, 48th, 69th, Len Aiyappa 10th, 11, Shivender Singh 14th, Arjun Halappa 38th, 42nd) bt Army Green: 2 (Lavpreet Singh 59th, Gabriel 63rd).</p>
<p>Namdhari, playing their first match of the tournament, started as favourites but came out with a rather disjointed effort, seeing them eventually holding off a spirited MLI to earn themselves a point at the KSHA Stadium.</p>.<p>Both goals in the match came off penalty corners with MLI striking first off captain Sunil Kumar in the 30th minute and Harpal Singh equalising for Namdhari in the 51st.<br />The match started with MLI making the early running with Sunil calling the shots in the midfield. But the cutting edge was lacking for Armymen, who missed six penalty corners.<br />Namdhari had the best scoring opportunity of the first half, when Harpal’s penalty corner drive was brilliantly blocked on the goalline by MLI defender Irfan Sanadi.<br /><br />The deserved goal for MLI came in the 30th minute through a short corner after some good work from Nilesh Wadkar, which was duly slammed in by Sunil.<br /><br />The second half also went along the same lines with Namdhari struggling to get a stranglehold on the game and MLI failing to create any clear-cut chances. Namdhari’s urgency gave them a good opportunity to score but Gurbhag Singh missed a sitter in the 50th minute after a good foray from Gurpreet Singh. The equaliser finally arrived for Namdhari off a penalty corner, their fourth of the game, when Harpal Singh struck a strong low shot, which beat the MLI goalkeeper Palaksha.<br /><br />MLI though could have snatched all three points, but Sunil failed to convert a penalty stroke with eight minutes left in the game, leaving both teams to share the honours.<br /><br />Other results: SAI: 8 (Deepak Bijwad 7th, Nikkin Thimmaiah 23rd, 53rd, Pradhan Somanna 26th, 28th, 45th, MG Poonacha 33rd, 49th) bt MEG: 2 (Poovanna 17th, CU Bopanna 58th); MLI: 1 (Sunil Kumar 30th PC) drew Namdhari XI: 1 (Harpal Singh 51st PC); Air India: 8 (Sameer Dad 6th, 48th, 69th, Len Aiyappa 10th, 11, Shivender Singh 14th, Arjun Halappa 38th, 42nd) bt Army Green: 2 (Lavpreet Singh 59th, Gabriel 63rd).</p>
