WSH: Pune Strykers shock leaders Punjab

Dragflicker Gurpreet Singh stuck twice as hosts Pune Strykers stunned table-toppers Sher-E-Punjab 3-2 in a pulsating World Series Hockey match in Pune on Tuesday.

Vikas Pillay (12th min) and Gurpreet Singh (29th, 31st) scored for the Strykers, while Bikramjit Singh (6th) and Gagan Ajit Singh (63rd) sounded the board for Punjab.

For a team that impressed in the first round but slipped to mediocrity, the 3-2 win against the title favourites will no doubt boost Strykers tremendously.

It was, however, young star Bikramjit Singh who drew first blood for Punjab when he stunned the home crowd by converting the first penalty corner to post the opening goal of the match.

But the Strykers came back strongly with some exhilarating display of grit and skill. Livewire Vikas Pillay, who moments before had missed a sitter set up by Argentine import Mario Almada, was accurate in his penalty stroke to get the equaliser.

The stroke was awarded after PC expert Gurpreet drag flick hit Mathew Hotchkis on the right leg. The hosts could have added another before the end of the first quarter but the goal was disallowed after a video referral.

But a rival's leg came to the rescue of the Strykers shortly. Gurpreet's next penalty coner hit Punjab's Prabhdeep Singh Powar on his left leg and got deflected into the net. A couple of minutes later, Gurpreet Singh struck a gem of a PC conversion to put the Strykers ahead 3-1.

The second half witnessed a sea-change in Punjab's approach as they came all out and earned half-a-dozen penalty corners, but the Shers were stonewalled by the Punjab's goalkeeper and his band of defenders.

Gagan Ajit Singh then reduced the margin with just seven minutes left for the hooter. Gurpreet, instead of negotiating on his own which proved his team's undoing in the second session, mispassed to Gagan on the circle line.

The opportunistic Punjab striker pounced on the chance and aimed right into the right corner of the net where it landed after hitting Vikas's stick.

The favourites had a golden chance to equalise after bagging a PC seconds before the hooter but they lacked precision, and the Strykers managed to surivive those tense moments.