Shivender spurs Air India

Western Railway hold Karnataka women in high-scoring game

A hat-trick by Indian international Shivender Singh, backed by a host of splendid saves by custodian Adrian D’souza, helped Air India register a come-from-behind 4-2 win over BPCL in the Bengaluru Cup hockey tournament here on Saturday.

With both the teams having a number of international players in the ranks, the game was expected to be of top quality, and it lived up to the expectations with both the teams matching each other stride for stride.

It was not before the 8th minute that the goal fest began. A momentary lapse of concentration among Air India’s defenders allowed Incheon gold medalist, SV Sunil, to set up team-mate Amir Khan who calmly slotted the ball in to put BPCL ahead. Soon, Amir was close to adding to his tally. But an agile D’souza, who swiftly got down to block the ball away to safety from his left post in the 11th minute.

After loosing their opening game to IOCL, the Mumbai-based team needed a win to keep their hopes alive, and the urgency was evident in them. They came close to restoring parity time and again, but for a resilient BPCL defence who were up to the task.

Air India’s efforts eventually bore fruits in the 24th minute when Shivender picked up a Samir Dad’s pass from the left to score a fine goal. The ensuing passage of play in the first half witnessed a number of missed opportunities with both the teams squandering chances at the goal mouth apart from short corners that ended in the railing behind the goal post.

In the 42nd minute, BPCL restored their lead through William Xalco short corner. This lead, though, was short-lived as at the 45th minute Shivender added another goal to his tally. VS Vinay set him up after getting past the defence line displaying some exceptional dribbling skills.

Shivender then went on to put his side in the lead in the 48th minute, tapping in a Samir Dad lob that caught BPCL’s goalkeeper by surprise, also completing his hat-trick in the process. A fourth goal in the 66th minute by Dad put the result beyond doubt as Air India emerged worthy winners.


Other results: Women: Haryana: 16 (Monika D 4th, 23rd, 54th, Jyoti Gupta 20th, 42nd, 58th, Jaspreet 21st, 57th, 63rd, Monika 4th, 70th, Nickey 14th, 68th, Ritu Rani 28th, 47th, Neha 11th, ) beat Tamil Nadu 1: (Jaya Lakshmi 37th); Central Railway: 3 (Vandana Kataria 20th, Yendala Soundarya 59th, Sandeep Kaur 65th) drew with MP Academy: 3 (Reena Khokhar 53rd, Shivani Singh 57th, Karishma Singh 58th); Karnataka XI: 3 (Komala BM 2 46th, 48th, Teena KR 66th) drew with Western Railway: 3 (Pooja Ravi 15th, Namita Toppo62nd, Lilly Chanu M 29th).