Match 22::Delhi Waveriders seal place in Semi-Finals

Ranchi, 01 February 2013: Delhi Waveriders nearly sealed their place in the semi-finals of the Hero Hockey India League with a crushing 5-2 win over second placed Ranchi Rhinos on Friday.

Rhinos defence, without their star defender Birendra Lakra, had an off day when Gurwinder Singh Chandi scored a brace, while Simon Child, Rupinder Pal Singh and Gurbaj Singh scored a goal each for Waveriders. Delhi Waveriders, still unbeaten in the league, now have 39 points, 10 more than Rhinos.

Ranchi Rhinos started the game with Sushant Tirkey in the goal instead of Cortes, and the move backfired terribly. In the third minute, Gurwinder Singh Chandi got a good ball in the left flank, but miss-timed his strike. The ball came at a very slow pace, and under no pressure, Tirkey, who was trying to kick the ball out, missed it, giving visitors an early lead.

Four minutes later, another mistake by Tirkey, doubles up with some superb skills by Waveriders’ forwards, made it 2-0 for Bansal’s team.

Simon Child collected a dreadful miss-hit from Rhinos’ defender Amit Rohidas inside the circle, and with Tirkey charging too early, Child managed to hit the target. Rhinos immediately replaced Tirkey with Cortes.

Rhinos had their chances, when they earned penalty corners in the 11^th and the 19th minute. But the hosts were unable to execute the plan on both occasions.

Waveriders delivered another blow to the hosts in the second quarter, with Chandi scoring one of the best goals of the tournament so far.

Just a minute after Rhinos had missed out scoring on their second penalty corner, Akashdeep gave a brilliant pass to a charging Chandi in the left flank. Chandi made a fabulous diving connection and still managed to generate good pace to beat Cortes.

Shocked by a three-goal deficit, Rhinos finally found their scoring touch in the 23red minute. Nick Wilson got a good ball to the right of the goalpost, and even as he slipped, Wilson managed to beat Waveriders’ goalie Jacobi with a reverse hit to open Rhinos’ account.

This was the 100th goal scored in the Hero Hockey India League 2013.

Rupinder Pal Singh restored Waveriders’ three-goal lead with a fierce drag-flick. Cortes managed to get a hand to the ball, but the pace on Rupider’s drag flick was so much that the ball still managed to go in the goalpost. Mandeep Singh twice collected poor balls from Waveriders’ defenders after that, but failed to capitalise on both occasions.

Waveriders ended the game as a contest when Gurbaj scored their fifth goal in the 50th minute. Simon Child collected a loose ball close to the Rhinos’ D, and although he was unable to take the shot, Gurbaj smacked it past Cortes to make it 5-1. The home fans had something to cheer about in the final quarter, with Manpreet Singh scoring off a penalty corner.

Delhi Waveriders captain Sardar Singh said that they don’t take any team lightly as each team has something different in their store, adding: “For this match, our strategy was to play defensive and materialise the chances whatever we get. And through this strategy, we got the result what we wanted.”

Ranchi Rhinos’ coach Gregg Clark said that they missed many chances in this match. “We got good opportunities through-out the match but we failed to utilise those chances, which cost us the match,” the South African stated at the post match press conference.

Delhi Waveriders will play against Uttar Pradesh Wizards in Lucknow on 3 February and Ranchi Rhinos will face Jaypee Punjab Warriors tomorrow at same venue in Ranchi.

The Hero Hockey India League is organised by Hockey India with official sanction from the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The inaugural season is being played from January 14 to February 10, 2013 in a home-and-away format. The five franchisee-based teams, consisting of the top hockey players from India and around the world, will compete for the prestigious trophy. Hero Motocorp Ltd. is the Title Sponsor of the league while Airtel is the Associate Sponsor. Star Sports, who is the Broadcast Partner, will be telecasting all matches live.

Result

Delhi Waveriders 5 (Gurwinder Singh Chandi 3, 20; Simon Child

7, Rupinder Pal Singh 40, Gurbaj Singh 50) bt Ranchi Rhinos 2 (Nick

Wilson 23, Manpreet Singh 68).

HERO Goal of the Day: Gurwinder Singh Chandi

Man-of-the-Match: Gurbaj Singh