Punjab National Bank defeated Chandigarh XI by 3-2 in the opening match of MAHAVIR REAL ESTATE ALL INDIA SAHIBZADA AJIT SINGH HOCKEY CHAMPION TROPHY

• MAHAVIR REAL ESTATE ALL INDIA SAHIBZADA AJIT SINGH HOCKEY CHAMPION TROPHY starts at PAU today.

• WINNERS WOULD GET TOTAL PRIZE MONEY OF RS 4.25 LAKH.

• BEST PLAYER OF EVERY MATCH WOULD GET RS 1,500.



Ludhiana, March 9, 2011:(Anmol Singh)



Punjab National Bank defeated Chandigarh XI by 3-2 in the opening match of MAHAVIR REAL ESTATE ALL INDIA SAHIBZADA AJIT SINGH HOCKEY CHAMPION TROPHY which started at Olympian Pithipal Singh Astroturf in Punjab Agricultural University, here today.



This six day hockey tourney is being organised by Sports Council of Ludhiana from March 9-14, 2011.



In this hockey tournament, eight teams from men category and four from women category would be competing against each other for prize money of Rs 4.25 lakh.



In men category, a total of eight teams- Air India (Mumbai), ONGC (Mumbai), Punjab National Bank (New Delhi), Punjab and Sindh Bank (New Delhi), Chandigarh XI, Namdhari XI, Indian Air Force and Indian Army would be competing against each other.



Similarly in women category, a total of four teams- Central Railways (Mumbai), Gwalior Academy, Chandigarh XI and Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala) would be pitched against each other.



The tournament was inaugurated by S. Surinder Singh Sodhi (Hockey Olympian and Arjuna Awardee), while Dr Pushpinder Singh Aulakh, Director, Students Welfare at PAU presided over the function on behalf of PAU Vice Chancellor Dr Manjit Singh Kang.



In the first match of the day, PNB defeated Chandigarh XI by 3-2. For PNB, Navdeep Singh opened the account by scoring a field goal in the seventh minute of the match. Gurjant Singh of Chandigarh XI equalled the score with a field goal in the 25th minute of the match and later Gagandeep Singh of Chandigarh XI made the score 2-1 in the 31st minute of the match. Gagandeep scored this goal with the help of a penalty corner.



In second half of the match, Damandeep of PNB scored two goals for his team, a field goal in 65th minute and a penalty corner converted into goal in the 68th minute. At the end of this match, PNB defeated Chandigarh XI by 3-2.



In the second match of men's category, ONGC defeated Delhi XI by 4-1. First goal of the match was scored by Vikas Topo of ONGC in the 18th minute of the match. Diwakar Rana of ONGC soon brought the score to 2-0 by converting a penalty corner into goal.



The third goal for ONGC was scored by Pramod Kumar in 52nd minute. Manish from Delhi XI scored the only goal for his team in the 57th minute of the match. Later, Diwakar Rana scored his second goal of the match in 64th minute. He scored this goal with the help of a penalty corner.



Sports Council of Ludhiana President S. Pirthipal Singh Batala informed that on Thursday, a total of four matches in men category would be played. "ONGC would be pitched against Indian Air Force, Punjab and Sindh Bank against Punjab National Bank, Namdhari XI against Delhi XI and Chandigarh XI against Singal XI," he informed.



This tournament would be played in league cum knockout basis and the winner of men category would be given a prize money of Rs 2 lakh, while the first runners up would be given Rs 1 lakh as prize money.



The winner of the women category would be given a prize money of Rs 75,000 and first runners up would get Rs 50,000. Besides, they would also be given Prof Nirpjit Kaur Gill Memorial Trophy by her family members.



In a first of its kind, every best player of the match would get Rs 1,500 as prize money.



A cultural function was also organised on the occasion.



Prominent among those present in the press conference were, Olympian S. Balbir Singh Grewal (Advisor), Olympian S. Hardeep Singh Grewal (Chairman of Organizing Committee), Prof Gurbhajan Gill (Patron), Dr Kulwant Singh (Chief Organizer), Dr Baldev Singh Aulakh (Patron), S. Tarlochan Singh Gill (Patron), S. Jagbir Singh Grewal (Sr VP), S. Didar Singh (Hockey Olympian), S. Pavittar Singh Grewal (Sr VP), S. Indermohan Singh Qadian (Sr VP), S. Harvinder Singh Gill (Sr VP), Sh. Rajnish Dhawan (Org Sec), S. Gurinder Singh Sandhu (Sr VP), S. Ajaypal Singh Punia (Gen Sec), S. Sukhwinder Singh Railway (Fin Sec), S. Tejdeep Singh Bhalla (Org Sec), S. Bhupinder Singh Dimple (VP), S. Gurpreet Singh (VP), S. Bhupinder Singh Haibowal (VP), S. Kamaldeep Singh Ladian, S. Harbant Singh Raju, S. Gurcharan Singh, S. Gurnam Singh, S. Lakhwinder Singh (Org Sec), besides others.


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