FCI register first win in national hockey

Food Corporation of India (FCI) marked their first win at the National Hockey Championship (Division A) by defeating Haryana 4-1 while Uttar Pradesh and Railways registered consecutive wins at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium here Wednesday.

FCI made an impressive comeback on Day 2 after losing to Railways Tuesday in Pool D. They were in no mood to settle down and dominated the first half leading 3-0 going in to the break. Ganendrajit Ningomban, Sunil and Vikram struck goal each in the sixth, 18th and 22nd minute, respectively.

Haryana's Harpal Singh tried to restrict FCI and even managed to convert a penalty stroke in the second half but could not stop Ganendrajit from pocketing another goal in the 59th minute.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh won in Pool C, thrashing Jharkhand 4-1. Diwakar Ram went all out from the start and managed to convert two penalty corners in the 10th and 35th minutes.

Jharkhand's Chandan Aind tried to level it out in the second half by converting a penalty stroke (41st minute) but they failed to stop Uttar Pradesh's Jai Karan and Tushar Khandker from scoring field goals in the 44th and 60th minutes, respectively.

In another Pool C match, Bhopal edged past Karnataka 1-0 with Akram Iqbal (4th) scoring the winner.

In the last match of the day, Railways defeated Tamil Nadu 6-0 in Pool D. Railways dominated the first half taking a 3-0 lead and climbed their way to victory with three more goals in the second half. Railway's Malak Singh, Amit Rohidas and Vinod Kumar Singh contributed two goals each.

Results:

Pool D: FCI 4 beat Haryana 1; Railways 6 beat Tamil Nadu 0.

Pool C: Uttar Pradesh 4 beat Jharkhand 1; Bhopal 1 beat Karnataka 0.