Ravi treble propels Lions against Cheetahs

Pakistani drag flicker Syed Imran Warsi, the tournament’s highest goalscorer, missed chances galore as Chennai Cheetahs suffered a crushing 3-5 defeat against Karnataka Lions in a World Series Hockey match on Saturday.

Cheetahs’ goalkeeper Jasbir Singh too was off colour and conceded three goals to rival skipper Ravi Pal Singh, who starred for the visitors with three goals. 
 
Ravi Pal scored the first, third and the fourth goals, while young Vinayak Bijwad scored the second goal and Deepak Kulu, the fifth. For Cheetahs, Imran Warsi (two) and Mark Harris were the scorers.  

However, Warsi’s wayward flicks from three of the eight penalty corners by the team cost them the match as otherwise it would have put them in good stead.

The Karnataka defenders did their job with elan and were rarely off their marks and in fact Innocent Kullu brought off one save in rushing out to stop Warsi flick and Len Aiyappa was pick of the lot at the defence.

Punjab edge out Bhopal  

In Bhopal,  Deepak Thakur struck twice as Sher-e-Punjab staved off a good challenge from hosts Bhopal Badhshahs to score a close 3-2 win in their World Series Hockey match. 

Both the teams appeared jittery in the first quarter as they struggled to trap passes but as the match progressed, Punjab players found rhythm and went on to dominate the proceedings for most part of the match.  
 
Deepak (17th) put his team ahead in the dying minutes of the first quarter while Samer Dad had scored the second goal of the match, an equaliser for his side, in the 23th minute.

Harpreet also scored for Punjab and Deepak then scored his second goal in 45th minutes to give his side the lead again.