AG Haryana enter final

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 10

Gurdeep Singh scored in the dying minutes of the match to help Audit General (AG) Haryana beat AG Madhya Pradesh by a solitary goal in the All India Inter-Zonal Hockey Tournament semifinal at the Sector 42 Sports Complex here today.

Both teams had their chances in the closely contested match, but it was Haryana which held their nerve at the crucial juncture to make a move into the final, where they face AG Odisha.

In the 10th minute, Madhya Pradesh striker Ajam Beg brilliantly controlled the ball from the right flank to beat both the centre defenders before taking a reverse swing shot at Haryana’s goal. But custodian Sachin Saroha foiled the attempt with a timely dive. 

In the very next minute, Haryana lads launched a counter attack to earn their first penalty corner. However, Balwinder Singh failed to post the ball over the goal line.  

After couple of good moves, Haryana’s Gurdeep was in a goal scoring position in the in the 20th minute, but a wrong touch on the ball meant that the scores remained 0-0 in first-half. 

At the change of sides, both teams continued to play at high pace and the match seemed to be heading towards the tie-breaker. However, a mistake by Madhya Pradesh defender in the last minutes of the game helped Haryana book a place in the final. 

Haryana’s striker Triveni Prasad dribbled past two defenders before passing the ball to Gurdeep Singh, who beat Madhya Pradesh goalkeeper with a powerful shot to draw home the advantage.

Madhya Pradesh tried their best to equalise but failed to score in the remaining few minutes. 

In the second semifinal, AG Odisha beat AG Rajasthan 2-1. 

Odisha boys dominated the game from the word go and the side took the lead in the 27th minute when Teophil Kujur pierced through Rajasthan’s defence and sounded the wooden plank. 

Buoyed by the goal, Odisha continued to attack their rivals and doubled the lead in the 43rd minute with the help of a field goal by Satish Yadav. 

Rajasthan pulled one back in the 67th minute but could not stop their opponents march into the final.