Delhi SG Pipers open Hockey India League and campaign with win

ROURKELA: The Hockey India League is well and truly back and it was Delhi SG Pipers who beat Team Gonasika 4-2 via shoot-outs after the opening encounter finished 2-2 at regular time in front of a sizeable crowd at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here on Saturday evening.
Despite Delhi’s victory, there was hardly much to differentiate between the two teams during the 60 minutes of regular time.
Tomas Domene opened the scoring for Delhi following their first PC in the fifth minute but Gonasika, after consistently pressing hard during the second quarter, pulled one back in the 26th minute.
Araijeet Singh Hundal played the ball from the top of the D and Nikkin Thimmaiah tried to deflect it in. However, the ball hit the upright and came back into play. But Struan Walker was at the right place at the right time and he made no mistake of putting the ball into the open net.

Despite the equaliser, Gonasika didn’t slow down and took the lead in the 35th minute and this time it was Victor Charlet who scored from the penalty corner. The 6’5” Frenchman, who missed a PC in the second quarter, slammed the ball into the bottom right corner to make it 2-1. Delhi goalkeeper Pawan got his left foot to the ball but still couldn’t keep it out.
Gonasika though couldn’t celebrate for too long as Delhi made it 2-2 four minutes later. Once again it was Argentine forward Domene who sounded the board and this time it was a field goal.
Midway into the final quarter, Domene then had a chance to wrap up the game when Delhi grabbed their fifth PC of the match. But this time his shot hit the right post. Gonasika tried to take advantage but despite a brilliant run down the middle, couldn’t score from the counterattack and the game went into shoot-outs.

While Delhi coach Graham Reid would be pleased with his team’s performance, Gonasika captain Manpreet Singh would be disappointed with how he played. Not only did he make a terrible miss in the first quarter but was also poor with his shot selection during the shoot-outs.
Earlier, a laser show was held following which all the teams were introduced even as the opening ceremony was cut short as a mark of respect for late former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The Indian men’s and women’s team captains Harmanpreet Singh and Salima Tete along with other dignitaries were then brought on stage and the tournament was announced open amid fireworks.