UP beat Hydrabad, lifts Dr Ambedkar Gold Cup

Pune, Aug 12 (UNI) A spirited Uttar Pradesh XI held onto their overwhelming domination to whip Hyderebad XI 3-0 today and lifted the inaugural Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Gold Cup of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) at Pimpri, near here.

The final, watched by a large crowd, however fizzled out into a tame affair as the UP side comprising as many as seven players from the police and five from North Eastern Railway were not only fast but produced skillful hockey to outwit the Andhra Pradesh outfit.

The UP boys went hammer and tong from the start of the play and drew the first blood in the tenth minute via right back Dhirendra Diwidi, who made no mistake with the penalty corner award.

They increased the lead in the 13th minute and inside left Pramod Kumar, who scored with reverse flick after making a solo burst from the 25 yards line.

Hyderabad boys, though hard pressed, however, made brave attempts and forced six penalty corners but failed to produce them to fruition. Their frontliners Aleem, Nitya and Javeed made some brilliant run down but fumbled in giving the finishing touches to their efforts.

UP made the issue safe, after leading 2-0 at the breather through a combined move between Mohsin Ali and Pramod the former finding the mark in the 41st minute. Hyderabad made vain bid to reduce the margin but in vain.

Deserving winners UP XI claimed the glittering Dr Ambedkar memorial rolling trophy and a cash award of Rs 31,000, while Hyderabad had to be content with the runner-up trophy and cash award of Rs 21,000.

Local national umpire Feroz Shaikh and Vijay Shetty of Mumbai supervised the final.

Earlier, Mumbai XI putting back their reverse against Hyderabad drew some consolation in snatching a hard fought solitary goal win over Tamil Nadu XI and lifted the hardlines trophy.

Mumbai XI was presented with a cash award of Rs 11,000 plus a trophy.

The tie, which got off to a modest pace, saw the Mumbai outfit dictating terms in the opening session as their frontliners, showing better cohesion, often got past the rival defence.

In one of the moves, Mumbai forced a penalty corner in the sixth minute and their right Nilesh Mane made no mistake sounding the boards with stinging drive. The goal turned out to be the match winner.

Changing over with 1-0 advantage Mumbai slowed down the pace as the match was slightly marred by a persistent drizzle. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu got their act together and often raided the Mumbai citadel.

S Sudarshan and Ravi Pandy combination very nearly came to restore parity, but the former missed the mark by inches. Continuing their search for the equiliser, they forced five penalty corners which proved abortive.

Mumbai XI had also forced identical five but managed to give meaning to one of them. The tie was supervised by local national umpire Shridharan Thamba and Lokraj of Karanataka efficiently.

Former India international from Western Railway Puran Singh Mann was the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) appointed chief technical delegate, who did the posting in the five-day all India hockey tournament.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President and city MP Suresh Kalmadi was the guest of honour, who gave away the prizes. PCMC Deputy Mayor and tournament director Gautam Chabookshwar welcomed the guest, while tournament secretary R B Makasare proposed a vote of thanks.

UNI IS SSS PDS RAI2123