MOHALI: Roundglass Hockey Academy (RGHA) emerged victorious in the 18th All India S. Balwant Singh Kapur Memorial Hockey Tournament, overcoming Odisha Naval Tata High Performance Centre, Bhubaneshwar, in a dominant 5-2 fashion in the finals, which were played at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar.
RGHA took an early lead in the fourth minute through a penalty corner conversion by Captain Jarman Singh. Odisha equalised in the second quarter through Adrohit Ekka only to concede again after five minutes, as Mandeep Singh gave the lead for RGHA through a well worked field goal. Odisha once again levelled the scores in the 34th minute as Bilkan Oram converted a penalty corner.
Junior international Gursewak Singh then took the game away from the opponents, scoring twice in the third quarter in the space of one minute to sway the finals completely to the side of the champions. Amandeep converted a penalty corner in the 59th minute to complete a dominant performance and walk away with the trophy.
Gursewak Singh was adjudged The Player of the Tournament while Om Rajneesh Saini won the Best Midfielder Award.
RGHA qualified for the finals after beating National Centre of Excellence, Sonipat in a 14-goal thriller, winning 8-6 in the semi-finals, with Gursewak Singh scoring a brilliant hat trick. Gursewak Singh had also scored a hat trick in the team’s 3-0 victory over Namdhari XI Hockey in the quarterfinals.
RGHA had earlier qualified for the quarterfinals, topping Pool D with victories over Army Boys Sports Company, Bangalore and PIS Malwa Hockey Academy, Ludhiana.