Hyderabad's double dhamaka

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Sultans are the lords of the inaugural Premier Hockey League. Riding on a brilliant display by their midfield and defence and feeding on the electric home crowd support, the Sultans prevailed over a fighting Sher-e-Jallandhar 2-1 in their final league match to emerge triumphant at the flood-lit Gachibowli Stadium here on Sunday.
After the Sultana of Swings, Sania Mirza, it was the turn of the hockey Sultans to create their piece of history.And they did that in style by keeping the best forwardline of the PHL at bay once again in a fast-paced encounter to clinch it with 19 points from eight matches. The Shers finished second with 14 points while Maratha Warriors (13), Bangalore Hi-Fliers (9) and Chennai Veerans (5) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.
For the Sultans, young forward Indrajit Singh Chadha slammed the winner five minutes from the end after Deepak Thakur of Sher-e-Jallandhar had, in the 49th minute, neutralised the 20th-minute strike of seasoned Sameer Dad.
Sameer Dad, Wasim Ahmed, Lazarus Barla and goalkeeper Ahmed Alam were the stars for Sultans with the Pakistani custodian bringing off some sensational saves to keep the Shers away.
What was more creditable for the Sultans was that their victory came without much help from skipper and key defender Dilip Tirkey, who got injured at the start of the second quarter and didn''t take any part in the remaining part of the match. But Tirkey''s happiness was doubled as he was declared man of the tournament for his stellar show. He received a cheque of Rs 1.5 lakh.
The Sultans thus pocketed a cheque of Rs 30 lakh besides the glittering trophy while the Shers had to be content with Rs 10 lakh. Maratha Warriors won Rs 6.5 lakh.
With Wasim his usual efficient self and getting good support from Dad, Vikram Pillay and Avtar Singh, the Hyderabad Sultans established midfield dominance quite early. In the Sher-e-Jallandhar midfield, Daljit Singh was totally off colour and committee some basic mistakes that gave the Sultans the advantage. The home team got the first crack at the goal in the 11th minute when Chadha''s fine reverse hit on the move came off the left upright. Though the Shers did start on an attacking note, their forwardline of Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Thakur didn''t get much of a chance against the Sultans defence in the first quarter.
But with Tirkey getting injured at the start of the second quarter, the Shers increased the tempo of their attacks. However, Sultans, with Ajitesh Roy and Avtar Singh falling back, managed to weather their advances before knocking in the first goal.
Of a fine counter-attack, Wasim and Vikram opened up the rival defence with a nice 1-2 and Dad bulged the net with a rasping shot from the top of the circle. The Shers, who needed to win the match in regulation time, kept attacking but the Sultans'' defence was upto the task, especially Barla, who had an outstanding game.
However, the Shers couldn''t be denied for long and they equalised in the 49th minute when Didar Singh capitalised on the only mistake committed by the Sultans'' defence to send a minus to Thakur, who made no mistake.
As the match looked heading for extra-time, the Shers became more desperate and left huge gaps in the back, leaving Wasim and Vikram to capitalise in telling fashion. Off a Noor Azlan Bakar miss-pass, Wasim controlled the ball in their half and passed it to Pillay. The latter sent it back to Wasim after getting the better of Balwant Singh and the Pakistan captain found Chadha Inside the circle with a measured pass who slotted the ball to the left of goalkeeper Kamaldeep to seal Sultans'' victory.
Results: Hyderabad Sultans 2 (Sameer Dad 20th, Indrajit Singh 65th) beat Sher-e-Jallandhar 1 (Deepak Thakur 49th).