Punjab Hockey League: Roundglass Hockey Academy remain on top with commanding win

Mohali, Sep 6 (IANS) Roundglass Hockey Academy continued to remain on top of the table with a commanding 5-2 victory over PIS Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, on day five of the second edition of the Punjab Hockey League (U 21), which is being played here at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium.

The Sports Authority of India National Centre of Excellence, Sonipat, remained in second place with a commanding 5-0 victory over Ghumanhera Risers Hockey Academy.

Roundglass Hockey Academy has 14 points, while SAI Sonipat have 12 points, and the Namdhari Hockey Academy are in third with 8 points after Round 5. Naval Tata Hockey Academy, Jamshedpur (7 points), Surjit Hockey Academy (6 points), SGPC Hockey Academy (5 points), SDAT Hockey Academy (5 points), and Ghumanhera Risers Hockey Academy, New Delhi (3 points) occupy fourth to eighth places.

Drag-flicker Amandeep Singh scored a hat-trick in Roundglass Academy’s win, while Gursewak Singh and Gurwinder Singh scored the other goals for the side. Surjit Hockey Academy had taken the lead in the first quarter through Kushal Sharma, but Roundglass scored four back-to-back goals to take the game away from their opponents. Kushal Sharma scored one back in the final quarter, but Gurwinder’s goal in the 59th minute sealed the match for the hosts.

In the first match of the day, SDAT Hockey Academy came from a two-goal deficit to level the scores and then secured a bonus point after winning the shootout against SGPC Hockey Academy, Amritsar. Diljeet Singh gave SGPC the lead in the first quarter, and Jagjit Singh doubled the advantage in the 31st minute. SDAT came back strongly in the final quarter and drew level with goals from C. Shibi Yuvaraj and J. Arun.

In the shootout, J. Arun converted his penalty and then converted a penalty stroke to give his side a 2-1 victory in the shootout, while only Jagjit Singh converted for SGPC as goalkeeper S. Karthikeyan saved four penalties, including three strokes.

In the third match of the day, Namdhari Hockey Academy edged past Naval Tata Hockey Academy 1-0, helped by the goal from Yuvraj Singh in the 22nd minute.

In the final match of the day, SAI Sonipat thrashed Ghumanhera Risers 5-0 to maintain their second spot in the table. Nitin, Ritesh Pandey, Ankush, Mannu Malik, and Sunil scored for the winners.

Punjab Hockey League is organised jointly by Roundglass Hockey Academy and Hockey Punjab, aiming to provide extensive match exposure to players from the grassroots level and contribute meaningfully to their professional and personal development.

--IANS

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