Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) reclaimed the crown with a 3-1 win against Indian Oil Corporation Limited at the fourth Hockey India Women’s Inter-Departmental National Championships on Monday, avenging its defeat last year.
With the cream of Indian women’s hockey in action and Railways desperate to prove its dominance in a grudge match, the final was expected to be an exciting affair and the two teams did not disappoint. Defending champion IOCL, after a first quarter of tentativeness, took the lead through Deepika but could sustain the lead for less than a minute, Vandana Katariya bringing all her 300-plus international match experience to level scores immediately.
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Just when it looked like the game would go into a shootout, like last year, Navneet Kaur put Railways ahead with a powerful shot in the 43rd minute and Salima Tete doubled the lead six minutes later. Despite its control in the game, however, Railways did not push further, wiser after the 2023 final when, leading by a similar margin, it ended up conceding twice in the final minutes. This time, however, there was no mistake.
Earlier in the morning, Central Board of Direct Taxes edged past Sports Authority of India (SAI) 3-2 in the shootout to claim third spot after the teams were locked goalless at the end of regulation time. Neelam, Usha and Vaishnavi Phalke scored for CBDT while only Manju Chorsiya and Preeti Dubey managed to convert for SAI.
RESULTS
RSPB 3 (Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur, Salima Tete) bt IOC 1 (Deepika); 3-4 playoff: CBDT 0 bt SAI 0 via shootouts (3-2).
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Best goalkeeper: Deepa Sharma (CBDT), Best defender: Ishika Chaudhary (IOC), Best midfielder: Neha Goyal (RSPB), Best forward: Preeti Dubey (SAI), Top-scorers (8 goals): Mumtaz Khan (IOC) & Navneet Kaur (RSPB), Player of the match: Salima Tete (RSPB), Player of the tournament: Jyoti (IOC).
