Air India trounces UBI 8-0 in Group-A league match

Fancied Air India, Delhi, trounced local outfit Union Bank of India 8-0 in a Group-A league match of the 14th PMC Bank-All India Guru Tegh Bahadur hockey tournament on Thursday. The Air India outfit, bolstered by the inclusion of junior internationals Raheel Mohd and Abharan Sudev in the forward line and fullback Faraz Mohd showed good teamwork and dictated terms throughout the 70-minute encounter.

They had a perfect take-off by taking the lead in their first foray in the rival territory when Raheel hit the target. Eleven minutes later, Air India added the second goal through a field effort from Uttam Singh and went into the break with a 2-0 cushion.

Air India was more dominant in the second half and pumped in six goals to knock the fight out of the local outfit. Arjun Sharma scored the third goal in the 38th minute before Faraz converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute to make it 4-0. Two minutes later Uttam scored his second and the team's fifth goal.

The airmen continued to press forward and scored three more goals in the final eight minutes to complete the big win. Abharan scored two goals and Raheel netted one to round off the tally. Later, in a match of fluctuating fortunes, Central Railway, Mumbai, and Punjab National Bank, Delhi, shared honours as they played out a 2-2 draw. International Yuvraj Walmiki (18th minute) and Reuben Kedari (65th minute) were on target for Central Railway while PNB scored from a penalty corner conversion through Sanjay Singh (50th minute) and a penalty stroke scored by Gagandeep Singh (56th minute). Air India and PNB, both having won one and drawn one the match, have four points each while Central Railway has two points from this second draw.