Jalandhar, Sep 16 (IANS) Roundglass Hockey Academy (RGHA) and Naval Tata Hockey Academy, Jamshedpur, overcame SGPC Hockey Academy, Amritsar, and PIS Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar respectively won 4-3 on day nine of the second edition of the Punjab Hockey League (U 21), which is being played here at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

Roundglass Hockey Academy remained on top of the table with 26 points, while Sports Authority of India (SAI) National Centre of Excellence, Sonipat, remained in second place with 24 points after a 3-0 victory over SDAT Hockey Academy.

Naval Tata Hockey Academy, Jamshedpur, moved back into third place with their win against overnight third-placed PIS Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, who were pushed down to fifth.

Surjit Hockey Academy took the lead through Manmeet Singh in the 22nd minute, but Naval Tata equalised in the next minute through Sabian Kiro. Surjit Hockey Academy took the lead again after four minutes through Charanjeet Singh, but were pegged back again in the 34th minute from a goal by Ashish Tani Purti.

Naval Tata took the lead this time with Sabian Kiro scoring again, but Surjit Academy drew level in the 49th minute through Abhishek Gorkhi. The winner for Naval Tata came in the 52nd minute after Afridi slotted home from close range.

RGHA were cruising comfortably with a 3-0 lead against SGPC Hockey Academy after just 16 minutes of the game with the help of goals from Gurwinder Singh, Gursewak Singh, and Sunny Singh. SGPC struck two goals in the space of five minutes in the second quarter through Harwinder Singh and Mehakdeep Singh. After a goalless third quarter, Japnit Singh converted a penalty stroke in the 49th minute to increase the lead of RGHA to 4-2. Harwinder Singh scored his second to make the score 3-4 for SGPC, but RGHA held on to their lead to secure all three points.

In the first match on the ninth day of the tournament, SAI Sonipat posted a comfortable 3-0 victory over SDAT Hockey Academy with goals from Happy Singh, Navraj Singh, and Mithilesh Yadav. This was the team’s eighth victory in nine matches, and they are maintaining the pressure on table toppers RGHA.

Namdhari Hockey Academy moved to fourth place in the table with a 2-0 victory over last-placed Ghumanhera Risers Hockey Academy, New Delhi, in the second match of the day. Yuvraj Singh converted two penalty corners for the winners to secure their third outright win of the league.

Punjab Hockey League is organised jointly by Roundglass Hockey Academy and Hockey Punjab, aiming to provide extensive match exposure to players from the grassroots level and contribute meaningfully to their professional and personal development.

–IANS

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