In a highly-competitive first semifinal of Hero Hockey India league between last year’s runners-up Delhi Wave Riders (DWR) and Uttar Pradesh Wizards (UPW), Yuvraj Walmiki scored the lone goal to take Delhi into the summit clash on Saturday at the Birsa Munda Astro Turf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi.
Delhi will now play Jaypee Punjab Warriors, winners of second semifinal, in the final on Sunday.
DWR were in full enthusiasm since the beginning of first quarter. The team earned the first penalty corner through Talwinder Singh, who played the ball on the legs of UPW’S captain VR Raghunath in the 11th minute. But Rupinderpal Singh’s strike was wayward.
But, Delhi attacked relentlessly and took the lead in the 15th minute when Walmiki deflected a Andres Mir Bel hit inside the post.
The second quarter proved favourable for UPW who marked their first penalty corner earned by the tournament’s costliest buy Ramandeep Singh. But, the luck for UPW lasted hardly for few minutes since DWR defended their lead strongly and their two defenders Rupinder and Australian Tristian White.
The crowd gradually increased during the Half Time. HIl mascot was entertaining in this interval gap.
In the third quarter UPW earned their second and third penalty corners. But, Raghunath wasted both of them to mark a bad outing for him.
Delhi’s Rupinder Pal Singh was declared the Man of the Match. There were two situations in this match when UPW went for referral.
Speaking on the win Cedric D’Souza, Head Coach, Delhi Waveriders said “it’s a happy moment for us today as we have won a tough match and qualifying for the finals is elating. Uttar Pradesh Wizards played good and put a lot of pressure on us. For the finals we will aim not to commit mistakes and we will go all out tomorrow. We have a very good team and we will use the experience judiciously tomorrow to create the right winning combination.
Speaking post the match Reolant Oltmans, Head Coach UP Uttar Pradesh Wizards said “it’s disappointing that we lost the semi-final match today. It was a tough match today with Delhi Waveriders being equally strong. But what matters in the end is the score line. Today’s loss is because of the small errors that we committed but I think it is part of the game. It is difficult to keep the team motivated but we will aim to win tomorrow’s match”
Punjab beat Ranchi
Jaypee Punjab Warriors overcame a late challenge from defending champions Ranchi Rhinos to win 3-2 and set up a title clash with Delhi.
like the last league match on Wednesday wherein Rhinos were defeated by Warriors, the pace of the game was quite fast and it was a breathtaking contest. The start for RR could not not have been better as they got the first penalty corner in the first half and their English drag-flicker Ashley Jackson fired a quick flick to beat visiting team custodian Jaap Stockmaan in the 15th minute.
The second quarter was a competition where JPW got their first penalty corner and equalised thanks to Sandeep Singh who converted a short corner in the 24th minute.
Third quarter went on a slow motion in the initial moments.
Sandeep later gave a one goal lead to Punjab with another well-taken penalty corner in the 52nd minute whcih was doubled to two three minutes later. Trailing 1-3 and urged on by a vociferous local crowd, Ranchi managed to pull one back through Floris Evers’ strike in the 58th minute.
Rhinos earned a penalty corner in the dying minutes to have a slim hope of equalising but a diving Stockmaan denied Jackson’s powerful hit.