Young roving forward Ajinkya Jadhav grabbed all the attention by showing off his excellent finishing and notched up a fine hat-trick to propel Indian Navy, Mumbai to a fluent 4-1 win against South Central Railway (SCR), Secunderabad in the final and clinch their maiden triumph in the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited organized 54th All India Bombay Gold Cup hockey championship 2020, played at the MHAL Stadium, Churchgate on Wednesday.
Navy coach Ajay Kumar also completed a hat-trick, winning his third successive title. Earlier, Kumar had guided the Indian Navy side, which for the first-time ever tasted success in the 67th Inter-Services championship in Kerala in December and last month he shaped the fortunes of the Services team, which included eight Navy players, and won the National Championship in Jhansi, after a gap of 28 years. The visiting SCR team started in flourishing fashion and rocked the Navy boat when Raju Pal beat goalkeeper Tidu Reydan with a fierce reverse crack from the top of the circle in the fifth minute.
The sailors stung by that setback started to launch attacks on the rival goals and succeeded in scoring the equalizer when Jugraj Singh sounded the boards with a firm low push in the 11th minute.
The second quarter was blank before Jadhav struck his first goal in the 12th minute of the third quarter to put the sailors in the lead. Jadhav showed good opportunism scoring two more goals in the final two minute to complete the winning tally of goals.
The champions Indian Navy received the prestigious Bombay Gold Cup and a cheque of Rs 1.5 lakhs from MHAL President, Mangha Singh Bakshi, while South Central Railway received the runners-up trophy and a cheque of Rs 1 lakhs from MHAL Hon. General Secetary, Ram Singh Rathor.
Indian Navy’s Jaspal Singh, Aakib Raahim and Ajinkya Jadhav won the Best Defender, Midfielder and Forward awards, while South Central Railway’s Sushant Tirkey claimed the Best Goalkeeper award. All four were presented with a cash prize of Rs 5,000 each.
Results (final): Indian Navy, Mumbai 4 (Ajinkya Jadhav 3, Jugraj Singh) beat South Central Railway, Secundrebad 1 (Raju Pal).
