South East Central Railway (SECR), Nagpur, clinched the first All India VHA-Nagpur Gold Cup Hockey tournament after defeating the Sports Authority of India team 2-1 in the finals here today.
The event was organised by the Vidarbha Hockey Association under the aegis of Hockey India.
SECR, the VHA senior division champions, defeated a young and promising team from Sports Authority of India (SAI) Sundergarh (Orissa) in an absorbing final.
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At the half-time both the teams were locked at 1-1.
It was the Orissa-based team who took the lead against the run-of-play in the 27th minute through their most dependable forward Sushil Ekka.
But the railway men used all their experience to negate the lead, drawing the parity a minute before half-time.
Shadab Khan, who was left unmarked at the top of the circle, received a long ball from captain Sheikh Imran and he made no mistake in slotting the ball home beating Orissa goal-keeper Ajay Kandulna.
Four minutes later, SECR captain himself scored the winner for his side from a beautiful field goal.
Despite trailing, Orissa continued to play a calm and composed game. They got several chances but were denied by some tough SECR defending.
SECR goal-keeper Chandan Singh too made some breath-taking saves in entire match.
Similarly, defenders Dheeraj Wagh, Nisaruddin, Mohd Shahid too were excellent.
For SAI Sundergarh, Santosh Majhi, Sunam Beck, Antuni Kido, Tikie Kujur showed excellent skills.
Earlier in the hardline final, Sports Hostel Pomposh, Rourkela defeated Maharashtra XI 2-0.
Suraj Minz scored in the 59th minute and Thouphil Kujur then converted a penalty stroke in 64th minute.
Arjuna Awardee and Olympian Ashok Kumar was the chief guest of the final and also gave away the prizes while VHA president BC Bhartia presided over the function.
VHA secretary Vinod Gawai, vice-presidents Unnat Khanna, Arif Khan, Kirtiwardhan Dixit, joint secretary Bhaskar Naidu, treasurer Ghanshyam Purohit, Harish Sisodia, Abid Khan, Sajid Pathan, DV Talewar, Farooq Akbani, Vilas Totade were present on the occasion.
