The experience and the might of Indian Railways was too much to handle for a young Hockey Karnataka side as the former scripted a 5-2 victory in the final of the 94th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup all-India hockey tournament here on Sunday.
The hero of the match was drag-flick expert and former junior international Pratap Lakra, who scored a hat-trick.
From the beginning, Railways played and executed its plan to a ‘T’. The former champion hardly gave any leeway to the speedy Karnataka forwards. In fits and starts, Karnataka kept attacking Railways’ citadel at every given opportunity. In the same vein, its defence, too, was sturdy; the interceptions at the back showed the young team’s capability.
Truth be told, Railways pretty much closed out the contest in the third quarter, scoring five goals. Pratap scored twice off PC’s and one off a penalty stroke. Trailing 3-1 at the end of two quarters, with Lakra scoring all the goals, Karnataka knew that it had lost the plot.
And it showed in the remaining two quarters though Karnataka did put up a brave front till the final whistle.
Hockey Karnataka has been a revelation here. Comprising players whose average age is 23 years, it showed a heart and a stomach for a fight throughout the tournament. On the day, it found an opponent too strong to surmount.
Prabhakar Singh, head coach of Railways, said his team had a head-start when it came to penalty corners.
“We always had the advantage in PC’s. We had more possession. Our objective was to put pressure on them. Our plan was that if we get a PC, we should either score or ‘have a shot’ at goal. We cashed in on our chances,” he said.
Udhayanidhi Stalin, State’s Sports Minister, gave away the prizes.
The results (final): Indian Railways 5 (Pratap Lakra 2, 24 (PS) & 29, Ajit Pandey 36, Deepak 42) bt Hockey Karnataka 2 (Thrishul Ganapathi 17, Chethan Karisiri 52). Man of the match: Pratap Lakra.
Special prizes: best forward of the tournament: Yuvraj Walmiki (Indian Railways); best midfielder: Mukul Sharma (Indian Railways); best defender / goalkeeper: Naveen Kumar (goalkeeper, Central Secretariat); most promising player: Sahil (HUTN).
