Inter-department hockey: PSPB, Railways, PNB and SAI reach semis

Bengaluru, Dec 26 (IANS) Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), Sports Authority of India (SAI), and Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Sunday advanced to the semi-finals of the 1st Hockey India Senior Men Inter-Department National Championship with hard-fought wins here.

The quarter-final stage witnessed intense encounters as PSPB, RSPB and PNB won in regulation time while SAI got the better of Services Sports Promotion Board (SSPB) in a shoot-out after they were tied 3-3 at the end of 60 minutes.

The first match of the day saw a thrilling battle between the Services Sports Control Board and Sports Authority Of India. Selvaraj Kanagaraj opened the scoring, getting a goal in the 3rd minute of the first quarter, but captain Jugraj Singh immediately found the equaliser for his team in the 5th minute. Pawan Rajbhar gave Services Sports Control Board the lead, scoring the second goal in the 7th minute. Both teams defended well till half-time, after which Mohit Kumar scored the equaliser for his team in the 36th minute. Manjeet put his team ahead again, scoring the third goal for Services Sports Control Board in the 40th minute. But Rimanshu found the equaliser in the 58th minute and pushed the match to Shoot-out. Sports Authority of India won the match 3-3 -- 4-2 in shoot-out to reach semi-finals.

The second match of the day saw Punjab National Bank facing Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Central Hockey Team. Gursimran Singh opened the scoring, getting the first goal in the 15th minute. PNB had a fantastic second quarter as Sukhjeet Singh scored their 2nd goal in the 19th minute, and then added the third in the 22nd minute. Banmali Xess scored the fourth goal for his team in the 25th minute. ITBP Central Hockey Team defended well in the third quarter but Satpal Singh added the fifth goal for his team in the 54th minute and PNB won the match 5-0.

The third match of the day saw Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) facing off against the Central Civil Services Cultural And Sports Board. Veteran hockey star Amit Rohidas opened the scoring in the 3rd minute of the match to give his side a 1-0 lead. But Vikash Choudhary managed to find the equaliser in the 17th minute of the match. Harsahib Singh scored the 2nd goal for Railways in the 39th minute, and despite Central Civil Services Cultural And Sports Board defending well in the match, Ajit Kumar Pandey scored the third goal in the 51st minute. RSPB beat Central Civil Services Cultural And Sports Board 3-1.

In the final match of the day, Punjab & Sind Bank faced off against PSPB. Both teams started well as Prabhjot Singh scored the opening goal of the match in the 11th minute, but Sunil Yadav found the equaliser in the 15th minute. Abharan Sudev B scored the second goal of the match in the 38th minute to give his team a 2-1 lead. But Prabhjot Singh managed to get the equaliser in the 55th minute to make it 2-2. Sunil Yadav scored the decisive goal in the match in the 59th minute and Petroleum Sports Promotion Board beat Punjab & Sind Bank 3-2 to reach the semi-finals.