Jaipur: Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh and Garvit Gujarat showed excellent fighting spirit till the final whistle as their clash ended in a 31-31 draw, the first tied game in the inaugural edition of the Premier Handball league here on Monday.
Both Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh and Garvit Gujarat were looking for a quick start in the game but it was the team from Uttar Pradesh that capitalise on the early advantage.
Sahil Rana and Naveen Malik of the Golden Eagles looked in fine form as they kept finding pockets of space to unleash lethal shots at Gujarat’s goal. Amit and Mohit Ghanghas of Garvit Gujarat were also on-song as they were creating shooting opportunities at will.
The lead kept constantly exchanging hands in the first half as both teams were matching each other blow-for-blow. By the 15th minute of the game, the score read 9-all. With very little to separate the two teams, captains Avin Khatkar and Vikas were looking to lead by example as they slowly took over the scoring responsibilities for their respective teams.
The introduction of Tuliboev Mukhtor for Gujarat saw them establish a slender lead over the Golden Eagles briefly. But thanks to some devastating finishing by Jyotiram Bhushan Shinde from the wings, the Golden Eagles made sure they cut short the deficit immediately. The first half ended at 17-16 in favour of the Golden Eagles.
Both teams were struggling to dominate the other in the second half of the game. Garvit Gujarat were successful in keeping Golden Eagles star player Sukhveer Singh Brar relatively contained in the game.
Tarun Thakur was efficiently pulling the strings for Gujarat as he was able to find Tuliboev and Atsawamethee Barameechuay on the wings with incisive passes constantly due to which they wrestled the lead back from the Golden Eagles.
Halfway through the second period, the scores read 23-25 in favour of Gujarat. Omid Reza in the Golden Eagles’ goal was proving to be vital for his team as he made a couple of stunning saves to make sure the Eagles were still in the game going into the last 10 minutes of the game.
While Omid in goal was keeping the Golden Eagles in the hunt, Vansh Thakran, Jyotiram Bhushan and Harjinder Singh in the attack were slowly chipping away at Garvit Gujarat’s slender lead, allowing them to set up a thrilling finish to the game.
With 30 seconds left to play the scores read 31 all as both teams were looking for that golden goal to win the game. However, thanks to the heroics of both keepers in the dying embers of the tie, the game ended in a draw with the scores reading 31 all.
Jyotiram Bhushan Shinde was the top scorer for the Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh with 9 goals, while Tuilboev Mukhtor was the top scorer for Garvit Gujarat with 8 goals. Omid Reza was awarded the best player of the match for his numerous saves in the Golden Eagles’ goal.
–IANS
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