Karnataka men start well

Hosts Karnataka XI opened their account in the inaugural Bengaluru Cup Hockey Tournament with an emphatic 4-2 win over Army XI at the KSHA stadium here on Friday.

Matching their skills with high speed, the local lads opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when KP Kusha’s pass from the right flank found KR Umesh inside the striking area, who’s reverse hit put the ball beyond goalkeeper PT Rao’s reach into the net.

Though the home team came close to increasing its lead, the Army defenders were up to the task as they parried the ball away to safety.

The defenders’ hardwork was put to good use by the trailing team in the 31st minute as a counter attack helped them draw parity. A BK Muthappa’s delightful through pass found Binay Bhengra within 20 yards of the goal, and with just the keeper to beat, Bhengra made no mistake in slotting home the equaliser.

This relief was, though, short-lived as Karnataka restored their lead within minutes as the hooter went for half-time. KP Kusha was brought down inside the striking area by the Armymen, and DS Darshan made no mistake in converting the resulting short corner.

The see-saw battle continued into the second half as both teams closed in on adding to their respective goal tallies. Within two minutes from the restart S Arumugam tapped in an easy looking goal for the Army boys after captain CS Khalkho’s initial strike was saved by the goalkeeper.

Playing their first tournament as a unit, the Karnataka boys were determined to make the most of the opportunity, and at the 53rd minute, regained their lead for the third time in the game.

Honnur Swamy N finding the back of the net after a neat play with Kusha who got past two defenders to set up the goal.

The home team soon put the match to bed as they slotted in their fourth at the hour mark. This time, Kusha getting his name on the scoresheet after a miss hit by PR Aiyappa found him with just the keeper to beat.

Other Results: Men: IOCL: 3 (Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh, Gurjinder Singh) bt Air India: 1 (Joga Singh).

Women: Central Railway: 3 (Yendala Soundarya 2, Sandeep Kaur) bt Karnataka XI: 1 (HP Sandhya); MP Academy: 2 (Ramngaihzuali, Priyanka Wankhede) bt Western Railway: 1 (Sanggai).