The Sunday night sky was well lit up with fireworks as home boys Ranchi Rhinos defeated Delhi Waveriders 2-1 to win the inaugural Hockey India League.
Manpreet Singh scored the decisive goal for Rhinos after Austin Smith and Simon Child scored one each for Rhinos and Waveriders respectively. Waveriders were the clear favourites going into the final but Rhinos turned the tables as the jam-packed stadium celebrated. Waverdiers were in the lead till the 55th minute but they were just not good enough when it mattered most. On the other hand, Rhinos, who failed to win a single match against Waveriders in the league stages, were brilliant in the final quarter and grabbed the chances that came their way.
Four goals, including a golden goal from skipper Raghunath in the last minute of extra time earned Uttar Pradesh Wizards a 4-3 win over Punjab Warriors in an absolute thriller of a third place play-off at Birsa Munda Astroturf Hockey Stadium on Sunday. Trailing 0-3 at one stage, UP came back with Raghunath scoring a hat-trick, all through drag flicks, to force an extra time. Raghunath then scored his fourth from another drag flick to ensure UP got the bronze medal, and walked away with a prize money of 75 lakhs. Jaypee Punjab Warriors dominated proceedings in the first quarter. Mark Knowles (4th minute), S V Sunil (8th) and Ranjit Singh (39th) scored for Punjab. But Ragunath eventually had the last laugh.
No comments:
Post a Comment