Punjab Police, Ropar Hawks reach quarterfinals

Chandigarh, Sep 28 (UNI) A depleted Punjab Police and unpretentious Ropar Hawks moved into quarter-finals of the 36th S N Vohra's All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament here today.

Seeded straight into pre-quarters, former champions Punjab Police, without their star players except drag-flicker Jugraj Singh, huffed and puffed to overcome a spirited challenge from Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala 3-2.

The Ropar Hawks blanked Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 5-0.

ITBP, playing their first match, were outclassed in all departments of the game by Ropar Hawks. They were given straight entry into pre-quarters as Punjab National Bank of New Delhi withdrew from the tournament.

Punjab Police owed their triumph to defender Jugraj Singh who scored all goals for his team and performed a three-in-a-row feat.

Punjab Police drag-flicker Jugraj Singh converted two penalty corners in the 23rd and 53rd minute and one penalty stroke in the 21st minute. The stroke was awarded by umpire Varinder Bahadur after RCF's Satwant Singh had stopped the goal-bound ball with his foot.

However, it was Rail Coach Factory which threatened to demolish Punjab Police by scoring the first goal of the match when Satinder Pal Singh converted a penalty corner.Yadwinder Singh scored the second goal for RCF by converting a penalty corner in the 38th minute.

The teams were evenly matched but the Punjab Police capitalised on most of the chances that came their way. Though RCF lost they were not disgraced.

Punjab Police were awarded eight penalty corners and one stroke.

RCF converted two out of three penalty corners they had forced.

Punjab Police next meet seeded and runners-up Namdhari XI in quarter-final match on September 30.

In the second match, Ropar Hawks made ITBP dance to their tunes.

Ropar Hawks took the things very lightly in the second half after leading 3-0 at half time.Swaranjit Singh (5th), Varinder Singh (15th) and Mejor Singh (24th) scored in the first half.

Deepak Kumar got Ropar Hawks' third goal in the second minute after resumption. Manpreet Singh sealed the fate of ITBP with a field goal in the 22nd minute of the second half. The total duration of the match was 50 minutes instead of 70 minutes.

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