Rovers Academy recorded their second consectutive victory in the 2nd Late Hussain Nabi Shaikh Memorial Hockey Tournament,edging out Metro Sports Club in a thrilling encounter at the Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in Pimpri. Rovers were stretched right to the limit by their opponents,who put up an incredible fight and refused to back down even for a second. They opened the scoring in the 12th minute,with Prashant Chauhan finding the back of the net thanks to a pass from Sachin Kamble. Their joy was short-lived,however,as Vijay Singh drew Metro level with a goal in the 14th minute. Singh duplicated this feat again in the 24th,equalising with his second goal after Rohan Jawale had given Rovers the lead just a minute earlier with a solo effort. Rovers Academy regained their composure soon,and scored two quick goals in the 30th and 33rd minute to give themselves a two-goal cushion that proved to be the decisive factor in their victory. Akshay Jagtap scored the first off a pass from Shabbir Shaikh,while Shaikh himself found the net through a penalty corner three minutes later. Shoaib Ansari pulled one back in the 38th for Metro Sports,but it turned out to be a consolation goal as Rovers Academy held on for a 4-3 victory. In the second match of the day,Green Meadows overcame Sikh Regiment by a solitary goal,winning the encounter 2-1. All three goals in the match were scored through penalty corners,and Hrushikesh Kulkarni scored the first of them for Green Meadows in the 3rd minute to give them an early lead. Sandeep Bhatti added another in the 11th with Atul Kalate setting him up. The Sikh Regiment got a goal back through yet another penalty corner in the 42nd minute,but it was too little too late as Green Meadows grabbed the points. Railway Police had a relatively easier outing,quelling the challenge of Rakshak Sports Club 3-1 The first goal was scored by Rajesh Musale,who was picked out in the 14th minute by Amol Bhosale. The goal sparked life into the Railway Police forward line,who took just one minute to make it 2-0 through Jeetendra Chande. Vikram Khalse pulled one back for Rakshak Sports in the 39th minute,but Bhosale ensured the win by restoring the two-goal cushion with a penalty corner conversion in the 42nd. The results of the Interschool championship played at the same venue are as follows: Under-10 SNBP School 1 (Aditya Nanekar) beat Jyoti School 0 Under-12 Range Hills School 2 (Siddharth Pawar,Moazzam Shaikh) beat NSB School 0 Under 14 SNBP School 8 (Sachin Lakshetty 2,Azhar Chaudhary 2,Usman Chaudhary,Rushabh Avad,Rohan Burse,Nilesh Chauhan) beat Jyoti School 0 NSB School 2 (Malhar Ghume,Sangram Pokale) beat Range Hills School 0 Under 16 SNBP 6 (Usman Chaudhary 2,Venkatesh Reddy 2,Rizwan Chaudhary,Mahindra Chaudhary) beat Anglo Urdu School 0
