LUCKNOW: Mohd Faraz’s effervescence lit up the VIII Hockey India Division A senior men national championship at
Mohd Shahid
stadium on Thursday. Thanks to his hat-trick of penalty corner conversions, Air India roared into the semifinals, keeping a fighting bunch from
Odisha at bay with a 3-2 win.
Also making the last four were Railways, who braved a gutsy show from Punjab & Sindh Bank to register a 2-1 verdict, while Punjab tamed Comptroller & Auditor General 6-5 via shoot-out and
Petroleum Board
sailed past Chandigarh 3-0.
But it was Faraz’s heroics that proved to be the toast of the day. The product of the Lucknow Hostel, who is now in the junior India core group, got into the act after Odisha drew the first blood via Ashok Lakra in the very second minute.
His drag-flicks defeated the Odisha custodian Tejeshwar Rao thrice in the 29th, 33rd and 50th minutes much to the joy of his teammates. Though, Odisha scored once in between in the 34th minute through Nilam Sanjeep Xess off a short corner, it wasn’t enough for them. Railways, on the other hand, had to fight tooth and nail against a dogged P&S Bank earlier in the first quarterfinal in the morning.
The defending champions had to dig deep into their experience as the bankmen, undeterred by a two-goal deficit came back strongly in the dying minutes.
The second match of the morning between Punjab and Comptroller & Auditor General too went to the wire.
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