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Bombay routs Delhi

Principal Correspondent

Universities beats Andhra Pradesh 5-1
Railways continues its winning march

JALANDHAR: Nishi Chauhan and Usha Singh scored two goals apiece as Bombay defeated Delhi 6-1 and qualified for the semifinals in the 55th Rakshak women’s National hockey championship here on Thursday.

On Friday, Bombay will take on Railways in the first semifinal while Haryana meets Jharkhand in the second.

Bombay had it easy against Delhi despite conceding an early goal, but its qualification depended on the third match of the day between Indian Universities and Andhra Pradesh.

Bombay, a virtual second-string Railway outfit as it comprises players from the Western and Central Railway, was propped up by Nishi after Sangeeta Singh had put Delhi 1-0 up in the sixth minute.

Captain Sushma Kharab was the culprit in allowing Delhi to gain the advantage, but she shot back with an equaliser in the 27th minute off a penalty corner as Delhi seemed to give a tough fight. On resumption, Delhi players ran out of stamina and Bombay gained ground.

Nishi strikes

Nishi, who a few years ago showed promise but failed to get a look in the National side, fired her first goal five minutes into the second half. She would later score the winning goal, a minute from close.

In between, Usha Singh struck a brace while Sarita Hanuman scored one as Bombay set a huge target for Indian Universities to overhaul. Bombay finished its league engagements with seven points and plus-12 goal difference.

The University team needed to beat Andhra Pradesh by at least a nine-goal margin to qualify ahead of Bombay, but the target proved to be a tall order. Andhra Pradesh’s inspiring play also made matters difficult for Universities, which finally finished with a 5-1 win.

It was Andhra Pradesh, which took an unlikely lead in the seventh minute through Satya Vati. Universities team managed to level in the 23rd through Gurvinder. In the second half, Universities scored four goals.

Big win

In the Pool A league, defending champion Railways beat Karnataka 11-0 to continue its march towards the National title. Binita Xess scored four and Saba Anjum struck thrice as Railways wielded its whiphand. Rajwinder Kaur, Subhadra Pradhan, Th. Ranjita and skipper Surinder Kaur were the other scorers.

In an inconsequential Pool A match, Patiala and East Punjab States’ Union (PEPSU) defeated Maharashtra 3-0 with Prakash Choudhary scoring a hat-trick.

The results: Pool A: Railways 11 (Saba Anjum 8th, 9th, 53rd, Surinder Kaur 22nd, Binita Xess 28th, 36th, 41st, 69th, Th. Ranjita 34th, Subhadra Pradhan 43rd, Rajwinder Kaur 58th) beat Karnataka 0.

PEPSU 3 (Prakash Choudhary 24th, 31st, 56th) beat Maharashtra 0.

Pool C: Bombay 6 (Sushma Kharab 27th, Nishi Chauhan 40th, 69th, Usha Singh 50th, 61st, Sarita Hanuman 66th) beat Delhi 1 (Sangeeta Singh 6th).

Indian Universities 5 (Gurwinder 23rd, Harpreet 45th, Preeti 48th, Lakhwinder 58th, Jeenam Jyoti 70th) beat Andhra Pradesh 1 (Satya Vati 7th).

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