39th Surjit Hockey Tourney; High-Flying Punjab and Sind Bank Reserve their Best for Final League Match!
Last year’s runners-up Punjab and Sind Bank reserved their best for their final pool game against ASC Jallandhar – the bankmen, who not just needed a win but a handsome win against ASC Jallandhar to nudge ahead of Punjab National Bank and Army XI for a berth in the semifinals, made their intentions crystal clear from the starting hooter. Jarmanjeet Singh drew first blood for the bankmen in the first minute and subsequently rode on a four-goal hat-trick from Jaskaran Singh to close out a 7-1 win – the big win helped Punjab and Sind Bank top Pool B on better goal average (scored 11 goals) ahead of Punjab National Bank (scored 9 goals) and Army XI (scored 6 goals)were also tied with 6 points from 3 games.
Read Surjit Hockey Tournament Winners
The 7-1 win was a redemption of sorts for the bankmen, who started their 39th Surjit Hockey Tourney campaign on a bleak note, losing 1-3 to Army XI 1-3 – although they beat Punjab National Bank 3-2 their semifinal spot was far from assured as Army XI and Punjab National Bankhad already posted two pool wins. Interestingly, Punjab and Sind Bank have won the Surjit Hockey Tourney on most occasions – 10 times. Punjab and Sind Bank would now face defending champions and Pool A second-placed team Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) in the semifinals – it may be recalled that the Railmen had prevailed over the bankmen 3-1 in the final of the 2021 edition of the Surjit Hockey Tournament.
Read 39th Surjit Hockey Tournament: Aura of Invincibility Around Former Internationals-Packed Indian Oil
Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) after their dreadful start to their campaign when they lost to Indian Air Force 1-3, hit their groove first beating Punjab Police 3-2 and subsequently nosing out Indian Oil 2-1 to seal their semifinal berth. Indian Oil would take on Punjab National Bank – the second-placed team of Pool B. The winning team will take home a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh, while the runners-up team would be richer by Rs 3 lakh – these cash awards are sponsored by NRI Amolak Singh Gakhal, Chairman of US-based Gakhal Group. The Best Player of the Tournament would received the Mohinder Singh Tut Memorial Award along with a cash prize of Rs 25,000, sponsored by Ranbir Singh Rana Tut.
