Services trounce Odisha in National Games men’s hockey final

Odisha Sun Times Sports Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 11:

Odisha men’s hockey team suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Services in the final of the 35th National Games at the New Hockey Stadium in Kollam today.

Services registered a huge 8-2 win over Odisha to pocket the gold and Odisha had to be content with the silver.

Although Deepanshu Bhargav of Odisha scored a remarkable early goal in the second minute, Siraj struck back in the sixth minute to convert a penalty corner and level the game.

Later, Mukesh Kakra and Ved Prakash scored a goal each, in the 13th and 17th minutes respectively, to take the score to 3-1 in favour of Services. They continuously breached the defence of Odisha as Davinder Singh and Jaspreet Singh scored a couple of goals, one after the other, in the 26th and 29th minutes, respectively.

By the end of the first half, the score stood at 5-1 with Services leading. The second half began more intensely as Odisha looked at making a comeback. But dominating the field of play, Services continued to create scoring opportunities as Binay Bhengra pierced in a field goal in the 44th minute closely followed by a goal from Navneet Swarnakar of Odisha, who sliced in the second goal for his team.

Undeterred by this comeback, Chandan Aind and Ved Prakash scored again in the 54th and 66th minutes to give Services an impeccable score of 8-2 and gold at the National Games.

On the other hand, Jharkhand beat Odisha 2-0 to take home the bronze in women’s hockey.