Rangaswami Hockey Cup: MPSHA trounce Goa 7-1

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh State Hockey Academy (MPSHA), Bhopal trounced Goa 7-1 in the 63rd Rangaswami Cup Senior National Men`s Hockey Championship played at the Aishbagh Stadium on Sunday night. Vikash Choudhary of MPSHA scored five field goals including a hat-trick, while the remaining two goals were hit by Shailendra Bundela. Choudhary scored two goals in the first half at 16th and 24th minutes, while Bundela pushed the ball in the net at 23rd and 29th minutes through penalty corners and took a 4-0 lead for their team. The lone goal for Goa was scored by Rahbar Khan through a penalty corner in the 34th minute. At breather, MPSHA Bhopal led 4-1. In the second half, MPSHA Bhopal played an attacking game which helped Choudhary hit a hat-trick by scoring 3 goals in the 44th, 53rd and 64th minutes and won the match by 7-1. Earlier, in the opening fixture of the tournament, Hyderabad defeated Bihar by 3-2. Hyderabad scored two field goals in a span of four minutes through Mohammad Azharullah Khan and R Shivakumar in the 10th and 14th minutes respectively. At half time, Hyderabad led 2-0. In the second half, Bihar bounced back and hit two brilliant field goals through Mohammad Riyazuddin and Deepak Kumar in the 41st and 48th minutes and levelled the score 2-2. However, T N Sudhir of Hyderabad converted a penalty corner into a goal in the 61st minute and ensured his team`s victory by 3-2. PTI