Navy brush ASC aside

Led by Simran Shergil, Navy overcame slippery underfoot conditions and an occasional challenge from ASC to notch up a resounding 7-2 win.

Rain delayed the start of play by nearly an hour but once the ball was thrown in by referee Hassnein Mirza, it was the Naval armada that took control.

Three minutes into the match Simran, guarded by Abhimanyu Pathak, ran down the right and launched the ball towards goal. The wet surface slowed the ball down considerably, but Navy skipper AP Singh nudged it in to give his side an early lead in the first chukker. Navy’s most prolific scorer Akhil Sirohi nearly doubled the lead but running to his left, he found it hard to direct the ball in.

Navy had a couple of chances at the start of the second chukker it was ASC that found the target through seasoned pro Pathak. The star player equalised with a smart shot that deflected off Simran’s pony into the goal. ASC changed a couple of ponies with a minute to go in the second chukker but the score stood at one goal each.

Riding on quarter-bred ponies, the ASC side looked completely out of sorts three minutes into the third chukker and the Navy side brought in a new set of ponies to make the most of the situation. Simran, positioned on the right, pushed forward the ball from a melee and completed the run with a powerful shot for the lead. He then extended the lead to 3-1 when he converted a 60-yard penalty.

In the fourth chukker, Simran continued to torment ASC with his skillful stick work and a fast pony. He powered in the fourth off a pass from AP Singh and made no mistake in converting a 30-yard penalty. Akhil, who remained dormant for most part of the match, shifted gears and scored two goals minutes from the end to give Navy an unassailable 7-1 lead. Tarsem Singh managed to pull one back for ASC.

Show-jumping results (all open category): Normal jump (100 cm): Zarosh (EIRS) 1; Rishab (RM Farms) 2; NV Ravi (MRS) 3.
Successive relay (100 cm): Anantya Sahney/ Fouad Mirza (ECE) 1; Arjun Verma/ Shashank (ARPA) 2; Gethika Basappa/ Aliya Das Gupta (ECE) 3.
Six bar: Aliya Das Gupta (ECE) 1; Nadia Haridass (EIRS) 2; Ravindra (ASC) 3. Cross country: Ravindra (ASC) 1; Ashok Kumar (ASC) 2; Halasiddh (ARPA) 3.