Pune: Olympian Vivek Singh Academy, Varanasi won an exciting eight-goal thriller against Army Boys Sports Company, Bengaluru in an encounter that settled old scores on a day when goals rained in the 6th SNBP All-India Hockey Tournament (Boys Under-16) at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, here on Saturday.
On a day that witnessed 54 goals scored, the Olympian Vivek Singh Academy and Army Boys Sports Company (ABSC) encounter stood out for reasons enough to be a cracker.
The Pool-F encounter, to begin with, was a repeat of the final of the 2nd Hockey India Sub Junior Men Academy National Championship 2022 wherein ABSC emerged champions in a shootout at the expense of the boys from Varanasi.
Saturday’s encounter began with the Varanasi side trailing early after ABSC, Bengaluru struck through Nitesh Sharma (5th). However, Vivek Yadav (11th) levelled through a penalty corner conversion to go into halftime 1-1.
On resumption, Rahul Yadav (42nd) converted a penalty corner to put the Varanasi side ahead, but then three minutes later ABSC’s Daya Ram (45th) gained success off a penalty stroke to make it 2-2.
The match thereafter saw both teams level again. Arjun Chauhan (50th) off a penalty corner for Varanasi and Daya Ram (51st) for ABSC.
However, Olympian Vivek Singh Academy gained control to net two goals by Sonu Patel (52nd) — off a penalty corner — and Ajay Kumar Gond (59th) to avenge their loss at Gumanhera, New Delhi early this year.
Earlier, Pool-G recorded the biggest win of the tournament since inception with Agra-based Sukhjeevan Sports Academy notching up a 23-0 win over a hapless Olympian Baskaran Hockey Academy after leading 11-0 at the halfway stage.
The highlight of this big win was a 10-goal effort by Manish Kumar (2nd – pc, 25th, 31st, 35th, 37th, 41st – pc, 49th, 58th, 58th, 59th – ps).
Other winners of the day included; R.K. Roy Academy, Patna who downed Tamil Nadu Hockey Academy 6-0 in Pool E, Ritu Rani Hockey Academy, Varanasi completing a 9-0 rout over Mumbai School Sports Association, Mumbai in Pool-C and Grassroot Hockey overcoming Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, Kodagu 7-1 in Pool-H.
RESULTS:
Pool E: R.K. Roy, Patna: 6 (Ashutosh Pal 12th; Nicolas Topno 16th, 58th; Nitin 34th, 51st; Shashank Kumar 39th) bt Tamil Nadu Hockey Academy: 0. HT: 2-0
Pool G: Sukhjeevan Sports Academy, Agra: 23 (Manish Kumar 2nd (pc), 25th, 31st, 35th, 37th, 41st (pc), 49th, 58th, 58th, 59th (Ps); Akash Rajbhar 6th, 20th; Divyanshu Sharma 7th, 27th, 47th; Anurag Yadav 9th; Kunal Singh 14th, 47th; Nitin 16th (Ps), Ayush Bhatt 26th, 43rd; Dinesh Sharma 29th; Ankit Pippal 55th) bt Olympian Baskaran Hockey Academy: 0. HT: 11-0
Pool F: Olympian Vivek Singh Academy, Varanasi: 5 (Vivek Yadav 11th (pc); Rahul Yadav 42nd (pc); Arjun Chauhan 50th (pc); Sonu Patel 52nd (pc); Ajay Kumar Gond 59th) bt Army Boys Sports Company, Bengaluru; 3 (Nitesh Sharma 5th; Daya Ram 45th (Ps), 51st (pc). HT: 1-1
Pool-C: Ritu Rani Hockey Academy, Varanasi: 9 (Sunil 2nd; Amandeep 6th, 16th (pc), 28th (pc); Nitin 29th (pc); 37th; Aakash 39th (pc); 41st (pc); Sahil Motte 45th) bt Mumbai School Sports Association, Mumbai: 0. HT: 3-0
Pool-H: Grassroot Hockey: 7 (Suraj Kumar 4th, 39th (pc), 48th (pc); Virendra Koranga 16th (pc); Rohit Airy 44th, 45th, 50th) bt Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, Kodagu, Kerala: 1 (Yashwin Bopaiah 24th (pc)). HT: 1-1.
–IANS