HIL: Toofans set up Tigers finale
TNN | Feb 1, 2025, 09.30 AM IST
As they beat Harmanpreet-led Soorma 3-1; Bengal team win in sudden death
ROURKELA: Hyderabad Toofans blew away Soorma Hockey Club in the second semifinal of the Men's Hockey India League to set up a summit clash with Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here on Friday.
Toofans dominated the game throughout and bagged a 3-1 win against Harmanpreet Singh-led Soorma in front of a huge turnout.
Meanwhile, Bengal Tigers came from behind twice against Tamil Nadu Dragons to make it 2-2 in regular time before winning it 6-5 in sudden death.
Although the Bengal Tigers won in the end, they were just two milliseconds away from losing the game during the sudden death. With Bengal Tigers trailing 4-5, Florent van Aubel had to score, and it seemed that his shot might have gone in after the hooter.
But replays showed that it crossed the line with two milliseconds left on the clock to the relief of the Bengal Tigers players. After that, Uttam Singh missed for the Dragons and Abhishek converted to win it for the Bengal Tigers.
Speaking after the match, Bengal Tigers coach Colin Batch said it was a very close game but admitted they must defend well in the final. "I think our defence, they got two goals running along the baseline. We need to tidy that up," said the Australian.
Later in the day, Amandeep Lakra opened the scoring for Toofans when they won their fourth PC of the night in the 25th minute. Jacob Anderson doubled it five minutes into the third quarter and Nilakanta Sharma made it 3-0 in the 43rd minute.
It was a big lead, but Soorma kept up the fight and played the fourth quarter without their goalkeeper. They even managed to win as many as 10 PCs in the final 15 minutes, but Jeremy Hayward could convert only one of them in the final second of the match which was just not enough.
Earlier, it was the Dragons who took the lead against the Bengal Tigers three minutes into the second quarter when Nathan Ephraums scored from close range. They couldn't hold on to the lead for long though as Pardeep Singh Sandhu scored for Bengal Tigers following a brilliant move started by Gauthier Boccard.
But the Dragons were back in the lead once again two minutes into the second half when Karthi Selvam scored his third of the tournament. Bengal were in more trouble two minutes later when Sebastien Dockier pushed Tom Craig during a challenge off the ball and was given a yellow card - a 10-min suspension.
Despite playing with 10 men, Bengal didn't concede anymore, and they eventually found the equaliser midway into the fourth quarter when Sam Lane scored from close range.
After that, they could have even won it in regular time but Jugraj Singh's goal from the PC was ruled out because the ball hadn't gone out of the D following the insertion. In the end, however, it didn't matter as they won in sudden death.
ROURKELA: Hyderabad Toofans blew away Soorma Hockey Club in the second semifinal of the Men's Hockey India League to set up a summit clash with Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here on Friday.
Toofans dominated the game throughout and bagged a 3-1 win against Harmanpreet Singh-led Soorma in front of a huge turnout.
Meanwhile, Bengal Tigers came from behind twice against Tamil Nadu Dragons to make it 2-2 in regular time before winning it 6-5 in sudden death.
Although the Bengal Tigers won in the end, they were just two milliseconds away from losing the game during the sudden death. With Bengal Tigers trailing 4-5, Florent van Aubel had to score, and it seemed that his shot might have gone in after the hooter.
But replays showed that it crossed the line with two milliseconds left on the clock to the relief of the Bengal Tigers players. After that, Uttam Singh missed for the Dragons and Abhishek converted to win it for the Bengal Tigers.
Speaking after the match, Bengal Tigers coach Colin Batch said it was a very close game but admitted they must defend well in the final. "I think our defence, they got two goals running along the baseline. We need to tidy that up," said the Australian.
Later in the day, Amandeep Lakra opened the scoring for Toofans when they won their fourth PC of the night in the 25th minute. Jacob Anderson doubled it five minutes into the third quarter and Nilakanta Sharma made it 3-0 in the 43rd minute.
It was a big lead, but Soorma kept up the fight and played the fourth quarter without their goalkeeper. They even managed to win as many as 10 PCs in the final 15 minutes, but Jeremy Hayward could convert only one of them in the final second of the match which was just not enough.
Earlier, it was the Dragons who took the lead against the Bengal Tigers three minutes into the second quarter when Nathan Ephraums scored from close range. They couldn't hold on to the lead for long though as Pardeep Singh Sandhu scored for Bengal Tigers following a brilliant move started by Gauthier Boccard.
But the Dragons were back in the lead once again two minutes into the second half when Karthi Selvam scored his third of the tournament. Bengal were in more trouble two minutes later when Sebastien Dockier pushed Tom Craig during a challenge off the ball and was given a yellow card - a 10-min suspension.
Despite playing with 10 men, Bengal didn't concede anymore, and they eventually found the equaliser midway into the fourth quarter when Sam Lane scored from close range.
After that, they could have even won it in regular time but Jugraj Singh's goal from the PC was ruled out because the ball hadn't gone out of the D following the insertion. In the end, however, it didn't matter as they won in sudden death.