Rampur’s Neeta Club beat Gill Club Patiala to storm into quarter-finals
Our Sports Correspondent
Ludhiana, May 20
Neeta Club of Rampur recorded an emphatic 5-1 win over Gill Club of Patiala to advance into the quarter-finals in the senior section (above 35 years) of the 8th Olympian Prithipal Singh Master Hockey Festival being held at the Astroturf of Jarkhar village, near here, on Saturday.
The festival is being organised by the Mata Sahib Kaur Sports and Charitable Trust in association with the Punjab Sports Department, in which matches are played under floodlights on weekends.
Neeta Club established a 3-1 lead at the half-time and added two more goals in the next two quarters to complete the rout. Ravinder Singh Kala scored three goals, while Ravideep and Luvjeet Singh sounded the board once, whereas the lone goal for the losing side came off Gurwinder Singh’s stick.
In the second match, defending champions Grewal Club of Kila Raipur survived some anxious moments before coming out victorious 3-2 against Guru Gobind Singh Club of Moga. The two sides were tied 1-1 at the half-time.
Kila Raipur players drew first blood in the 10th minute through Navjot Singh and Jugraj Singh of Moga levelled the score seven minutes later. Moga gained lead in the 23rd minute, when Gurpreet Singh found target to make 2-1.
Two minutes later, Kila Raipur scored the equaliser through Rajwinder Singh and Navjot Singh pumped in another goal in the 32nd minute to seal Moga’s fate.
The third match played between Master Ram Singh Club of Chachrari (Jagraon) and Young Sports Club of Samrala turned out to be a one-sided affair, in which the former wrapped up the issue 3-0. Kulwinder Singh, Sukhmander Singh and Sukhminder Singh chipped in one goal each to complete the tally.
Olympian Deepak Thakur, who played a pivotal role in Indian junior team’s victory in the World Cup, along with senior Congress leader Kulwant Singh Sidhu, prominent social worker Jagmohan Singh and Prof Rajinder Singh Gill were the guests of honour.
Deepak Thakur gave tips to the trainees of the Jarkhar Academy and advised them to work hard in a disciplined way to achieve the desired results. He praised the organisers for organising tournaments on a regular basis, which encourage youngsters.
Jagroop Singh Jarkhar, director, Jarkhar Hockey Academy, thanked the guests. Inspector Balbir Singh, Harpal Singh Jarkhar from USA, Tejinder Singh, Paramjeet Singh, Harmeet Singh Bhola, Mukesh Aggarwal, Anup Khaira, Karan Makkar and Sandeep Singh were also present on the occasion.
