All-India U-16 Hockey: SGPC, Amritsar stun defending champs SAIL in quarterfinals

Pune, Oct 4 (IANS) Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar caused the biggest upset of the tournament by ending the hopes of defending champions SAIL, Rourkela in a quarterfinal match of the 6th SNBP All-India Hockey Tournament (Boys Under-16) at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, here on Tuesday.

The SGPC, Amritsar team joined SNBP Academy, Dhyanchand Academy and Anwar Hockey Society in the semifinals of the prestigious tournament for the U-16 boys.

In the quarterfinal round, SGPC, who were the runners-up in 2019, completely subdued SAIL, Rourkela 5-0 after taking a runaway 3-0 lead at half-time.

The win was powered by a hat-trick by Gurkirat Singh, who netted twice (22nd and 30th) off penalty corner conversions and later completed his hat-trick by converting a penalty stroke in the 31st minute. Arshdeep Singh (57th) completed the tally after Jeevan Singh (18th) opened the account.

The day started with hosts SNBP Academy registering the biggest win of the last-8 round. The hosts, helped by six scorers, downed Grassroot Hockey 10-1.

The hosts' win was fashioned by a hat-trick by Amrut Pawara who scored two field goals (19th and 25th) and a penalty stroke conversion in the 22nd minute. The other scorers for SNBP Academy were Mohamad Shahid (3rd, 48th), Piyush Shimpi (6th, 42nd), who had a brace each to their name, while Vighnesh Birha (37th), Abhoishekh Patel (38th) off a penalty corner and Md. Adil Khan's 49th-minute goal completed the tally.

For Grassroot Hockey, Suraj Kumar (54th) scored the consolation off a penalty corner conversion.

Later, Dhyanchand Academy posted a 6-2 win over Smart Hockey Academy and Anwar Hockey Society played out an exciting encounter against Ritu Rani Academy, Varanasi before prevailing 4-2 in the shootout after sharing six goals (3-3) at the end of full time.

In the semifinals, hosts SNBP will face Dhyanchand Academy, while SGPC, Amritsar face Anwar Hockey Society on Thursday (Oct 6).

RESULTS

QF-4: Anwar Hockey Society: 3 (4) (Ketan Kushwaha 6th; Shahrukh Ali 35th; Ashu Mourya 58th (pc); Deepu Rawat, Ketan Kushwaha, Shahrukh Ali, Gaurav Yadav) bt Ritu Rani Hockey Academy: 3 (2) (Karambir Singh 19th, 27th; Amandeep 56th - (pc); Sunil, Sunny). HT: 1-2

QF-3: Dhyanchand Academy: 6 (Akash Pal 20th; Krishn Kumar 36 - (pc); Ajeet Yadav 38th, Krishna Mohan 44th; Arbaz 48th; Akib Ahmad 50th ) bt Smart Hockey Academy: 2 (Ankush Kumar 53rd; Surjit Rajbhar 54th - (pc)). HT: 1-0

QF-2: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar: 5 (Jeevan Singh 18th; Gurkirat Singh 22nd - (pc), 30th (pc), 31 -(ps); Arshdeep Singh 57th) bt SAIL, Rourkela: 0. HT: 3-0

QF-1: SNBP Academy: 10 (Mohamad Shahid 3rd, 48th Piyush Shimpi 6th, 42nd; Amrut Pawara 19th, 22 - (ps), 25th; Vighnesh Birha 37th; Abhoishekh Patel 38th - (pc); Md. Adil Khan 49th) bt Grassroot Hockey: 1 (Suraj Kumar 54th - (pc)). HT: 5-0.