last year’s runners-up beat Punjab 3-1 in penalty shoot-out
A year after missing the title by a whisker, Delhi Waveriders beat Jaypee Punjab Warriors on Sunday to end their one year itch.In a thrilling final, which was decided on penalty shoot-out, Delhi pipped Punjab by 3-1 to emerge winner of the second edition of Hero Hockey India league at the Birsa Munda Astro Turf Hockey Stadium here.
Majority of the credit should go to the Waveriders goalie Nicolas Jacobi, who had a brilliant day under the bar and made numerous saves to guide the Delhi side to the title.
Apart from making quite a few saves in the regulation time, Jacobi stood like a rock in the shoot-out to deny Warriors’ first three attempts before Robert Hammond scored from the one-on-one situation.
But it was not enough as the Waveriders scored three out of their four chances in the shoot-out to run away with the glittering trophy and Rs 2.5 crore prize purse.
When Delhi conceded an early goal (in the second minute of the match, fastest goal of this edition), it seemed to go on the smiliar path which they took last year at the same ground. Robert Hammond set up Affan Yousuf for the strike at the goal but he ran short of space and passed it on to Mark Knowles. Knowles’ powerful hit breached Nicolas Jacobi and stunned Delhi.
DWR got their first penalty corner but Rupinderpal Singh’s wayward flick went wide. But Delhi were determined to change the course of the match. They got their chances in the second quarter and they successfully converted them into goals to take 2-1 lead at the end of the quarter through lloyd Norris Jones and captain Sardar Singh.
In the third quarter DWR seemed more charged up than JPW but with the passage of time both the teams hit their top form. Striker Shivender Singh of JPW scored the second goal in the 45th minute and the three minutes later, Yousuf again put Punjab in the lead with his second goal. The scoreline read 3-2 in favour of JPW.
It was an interesting moment as DWR too scored their third goal through Yuvraj Walmiki in the 52nd minute. Warriors marked their first Penalty Corner by the end of this quarter.
Rhinos finish third A 3-2 verdict in penalty shoot-out handed a third-place finish to Ranchi Rhinos against Uttar Pradesh Wizards after both they finished tied 1-1 at the end of 70 minutes of regulation play.
The match started on a slightly slower pace as any of the teams wanted to concede early goal.
It took a few minutes before Ranchi got their act together and earned a penalty corner but it failed to draw any result. To this, UP countered Ranchi’s flow with equal might and were rewarded with a short corner which was successfully executed by VR Raghunath.
This goal marked the star Indian’s eighth goal in the tournament, putting him as the joint second highest goal-scorer with Kalinga lancers’ Gonzalo Peillat.
Ranchi too got their act together and of a counter-attack, midfielder Manpreet Singh dodged four defenders to equalise for the hosts in the 30th minute. That goal was 150th of the HIl 2014.
A lot actions were seen in the fourth quarter though without any rewards, requiring a shoot-out to declare the winner.
During the shoot-out, Ashley Jackson, skipper Moritz Furste and Bosco Perez-Pla scored for Ranchi while UP’s two goals came from Eddie Ockenden and Nithin Thimmiah.
Though Birendra lakra missed a goal during the shoot-out, he was declared Man-of the Match. With this win, the Rhinos pocketed Rs 75 lakhs.
Finally, it was a matter of consolatory bronze medal for the Ranchi outfit, who failed to defend their title.
During the day, Indian Premier league Chairman Rajeev Shukla and Arun Jaitley, the Senior Vice President of Hockey India as well as Board of Control for Cricket in India International Hockey Federation officials besides Hockey India ones were among the prominent guests here.