Krida Prabodhini entered the semifinal after walkover from State Bank of India, Bhopal. Krida Prabodhini entered the semifinal after walkover from State Bank of India, Bhopal. Income Tax and Central Excise, Mumbai and Sports Authority of Gujarat rode on hat-tricks by their respective skippers Ajitesh Roy and Ruchit Patel to open their campaign with wins over their respective opponents on Day 2 of the 6th Late Hussain All India Hockey Tournament at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium, Nehrunagar-Pimpri, on Saturday. The other winners of the day were Maratha Light Infantry, who won against Dhyanchand Academy, Nagpur, and Krida Prabodhini entered the semifinal round after walkover from State Bank of India, Bhopal. In Pool-C, Income Tax and Central Excise ended the challenge of BSF, Gujarat, 6-3. Skipper Ajitesh Roy led the winners with a hat-trick (13th, 37th, 58th). The victory that also included goals from Prince Chaurasia, Ashish Chetty and Nitin Kumar left them at a touching distance from the final four stage clash. They will next face local league champs BEG, Khadki, for a place in the last four. In the third match of the day, Sports Authority of Gujarat, who train under former Olympian Dhanraj Pillay, defeated Ayyan Club in closely contested 5-4 thriller. Skipper Ruchit Patel scored the second hat-trick of the day and pave the way for his team’s victory. The Aurangabad-based Ayyan Club put on a good fight to fight back from a 1-3 deficit to lead 4-3. However, with 26 minutes left in the match, the Gujarat side had their skipper Ruchit Patel net twice in three minutes (65th and 68th) to see his team through. Ayyan Club will next face PCMC XI. In Pool-D, riding on a brace each from skipper Sunil Kumar and Vijay Bhandare, Belgaum-based MLI showed Dhyanchand Academy, Nagpur, the exit door with a 5-2 win. MLI’s win meant they take on Central Railway to decide who will progress to the semifinals. Meanwhile, the last match of the day had Krida Prabodhini walked into the semifianals. Turning up for their Pool-A encounter, the Krida Prabodhini team were awarded a walkover from State Bank of India, Bhopal, who pulled out of the competition owing to a mishap to a team member. “We received intimation late Friday from SBI that they were all set to make the trip, but had to cancel their journey. The team had also booked their train tickets. This was last minute set-back,” said Firoz Shaikh, patron and founder of Late Hussain Nabi Shaikh Hockey and Sports Foundation. On Friday, Central Railway’s former Indian international Yuvraj Walmiki played an important role by scoring a hat-trick to help his team score a 8-2 win over Dhyanchand Academy to gain full points from their Pool-D encounter. For all the latest Cities News, download Indian Express App

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