Gagan makes the day for Indian Seniors

Chennai, Aug 12 (UNI) Indian Seniors clocked a 2-1 victory over Indian Developmental Team as Gagan Ajit Singh scored a second-half penalty stroke in the Independence Cup Hockey Tournament here today.

However, the seniors victory was not convincing. After slow proceedings in the first quarter, Sandeep Singh of India Seniors converted his team's third penalty corner to give his team the lead.

Though V Raja posed a challenge for the seasoned Dilip Tirkey, the Developmental Team could not restore parity in the first half.

But they recovered after the break and equalised through the penalty corner. After seeing his first attempt blocked, Raghunath slotted in his follow-up to cause jitters in the Seniors' ranks.

Stung by the reverse, the Seniors forayed forward in search of the winning goal.

Midfielders V S Vinaya and Arjun Halappa were found wanting for the crucial pass inside the 'D.' The Developmental Team also worked hard without much success in terms of real goal scoring opportunities.

It was only reasonable the match, lacking in verve, had to be decided on a stroke. When presented with a chance to make it 2-1, Gagan made no mistake.

Satisfied with his boys' performance Developmental Team Coach Clarence Lobo said the tournament would give an opportunity to assess the squad ahead of the SAF Games.

The match had given some clues on the areas which focus for improvement.

In the inaugural match of the four-team event, Tamil Nadu got the better of Indian Juniors (U-18) with a convincing verdict 4-2.

Results: Tamil Nadu 4 (Muthkumar (17, PS), Jagan Senthil (18), Gopinath (30), Venkatesan (33, PC)) bt India Juniors 2 (Bikramjit Singh (37, PC and 45 PC)).

Indian Seniors 2 (Sandeep Singh (17, PC), Gagan Ajit Singh (55, PS)) bt Indian Developmental Team 1 (Raghunath (55, PC).

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