SCR stun defending champs IOCL 5- 2 to set up final with Indian Navy

SCR stun defending champs IOCL 5- 2 to set up final with Indian Navy Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Ashwin Ferro ashwin. ferro@ mid- day. com THE Indian Railways are known to produce many topclass hockey players, who have excelled in national colours, but their fallout with Hockey India ( HI) has made life tough for Railwaysu2019 players.

The ban has had a direct effect on the Railways playersu2019 job promotions.

PR Aiyappa ( 7th, 58th minute) scored a brace for SCR while Sheshe Gowda ( 6th), Pratap Lakra ( 8th) and Lovepreet Singh ( 50th) added a goal each yesterday. Sumit Kumar ( 30th) and Talwinder Singh ( 35th) reduced the margin for IOCL. Interestingly, despite the promotion issue, SCR have been in red- hot form, having won the Railway Hockey League in Kapurthala this year to add to their three titles last yearu2014 the Mohammed Shahid Memorial ( in Varanasi), the Gurmit Memorial and the Field Marshal Arjan Singh Memorial titles ( both in Chandigarh).

Despite the defeat, the tournamentu2019s debutants have given a good account of themselves, leaving coach and Olympian MM Somaya proud.

u201c The average age of this team is just 20 and they have beaten two teams, Union Bank and Northern Railway en route the semis, so itu2019s been a fine show,u201d said Somaya, a Coorgi himself.

The team, comprising players from Karnataka, have been put up at the Western Railway Complex in Mahalaxmi. u201c The idea is to give the youngsters exposure of playing at an all India level tournament, where they can hopefully be spotted by some top clubs, who can offer them jobs based on their hockey ability,u201d added Somaya a gold medallist at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The Coorg side were beaten by goals from Indian Navyu2019s Ajinkya Jadhav ( 9th minute), Pawan Rajbhar ( 41st) and Aaquib Raahim ( 52nd).

Umpires also have a coach Just as players have coaches screaming out instructions to them from the sidelines, umpires too have had some guidance during the ongoing tournament.

On Tuesday, Hockey India- appointed Umpiresu2019 Manager Ripudaman Sharma ( seated in the stands) was seen encouraging umpires Rameez Qureshi and Govind Latwal during the first semi- final between IOCL and South Central Railway. u201c Shabbash Rameez, good call. Keep it up,u201d yelled Sharma as the umpire pulled up one of the players for a dangerous foul.

Moments later, however, Rameez erred in a call and Sharma promptly made a note across his name in a little diary which will be referred to during the umpiresu2019 briefing that is done post- match.

Olympian MM Somaya with the Coorg XI team yesterday Umpiresu2019 Manager Ripudaman Sharma in the stands yesterday PR Aiyappa ( right) of South Central Railway scores against IOCL during the semi- final of the Bombay Gold Cup yesterday. pics / ATUL KAMBLE