Ranchi: It turned out to be third time lucky for Punjab Warriors who trounced Kalinga Lancers 6-1 to win the HIL title in the fourth edition of the tournament here Sunday. Warriors had played in the final on two previous occasions and on both times finished second best.
The Chandigarh-based outfit scored three field goals through Armaan Qureshi, Matt Gohdes and Satbir Singh at the Birsa Munda Stadium here. Skipper Moritz Furste was the only scorer for Lancers when he converted a penalty corner. But even though they lost in the final, it was a creditable show by the Lancers who had finished sixth (2014) and fifth (2015).
The Warriors pressed on the gas right from the start and took the lead in the fourth minute. Qureshi got past two defenders and at the right moment reverse flicked the ball past Lancers’ goalkeeper Andrew Charter, becoming the Warriors’ top goal-scorer of the tournament with four.
The Warriors were clearly the dominant team in the first half of the match, keeping possession and regularly playing in the Lancers’ half of the pitch. Australian Charter was a busy man in the evening as he had to make multiple saves to keep his team in with a chance.
Lancers’ skipper and two-time Olympic champion Furste of Germany showed his class in the 24th minute when he hit a stinging drive to beat Warriors goalie Clemons Tristan to make it 1-2.
After the mid-way break, the Warriors came out even more aggressively, continuously pressing the Lancers’ defence. The efforts finally bore fruit in the 39th minute when forward SV Sunil worked out a brilliant ball and passed it to Australia’s Gohdes, who had no difficulty beating Charter from close.
The score was now 4-1 (each field goal is counted as two) in favour of the Warriors. However, they were not ready to relax. They did not have to wait for long as three minutes later Satbir built a fantastic move, moving past the Lancers’ defenders with quick pace to finally score the last goal of the match.
Earlier in the day, 2014 edition winners Delhi Waveriders defeated last year’s champions Ranchi Rays 2-0 in a game for the third-fourth place. Mandeep Singh’s lone field goal was enough for the Delhi-based team to seal third position.
Waveriders’ defender and penalty corner expert Rupinder Pal Singh was named the player of the tournament. IANS
