Railways came from behind to ground defending champions Indian Airlines 3-2, while Punjab blanked Uttar Pradesh 6-0 in the league matches of the 61st Senior National Hockey Super League at the Gachibowli Hockey Complex in Hyderabad on Friday.
Prabhakar Singh (48th), Amit Srivastava (58th) and Shivender Singh (61st) scored the goals for Railways, after Alfaz-ur-Rehman and Arjun Halappa had given Indian Airlines a 2-0 lead in the first half.
In another match in Pool 'C', it was goals galore for Punjab with Gagan Ajit Singh and Kulbir Singh scoring a brace each while Jugraj Singh converted the short corner and Kuljeet Singh opening the account against the weak Uttar Pradesh defence.
In the first match, Alfaz-ur-Rehman put Airlines ahead in the ninth minute taking the Railway defence by surprise while Arjun Halappa (33rd) strengthened the wings with a short corner conversion to go up 2-0 at half-time.
Railways changed track in the second half switching to an attacking mode and ripped through the Airlines defence, forcing a penalty corner.
Prabhakar Singh made no mistake and put it across in the 48th minute to reduce the margin. Ten minutes later, Amit Srivastava levelled scores after a defensive lapse from the defenders.
The tempo shifted to top gear with Railways moving with pace and precision raiding the Airline citadel frequently. Shivender Singh scored the winner when his shot entered the post crashing the hopes of the defending champions.
The other match was a one-sided affair with star Punjab player Gagan Ajit Singh penetrating into the UP defence scoring two spectacular goals in the first half.
Jugraj Singh lived upto his reputation by converting a short corner while a brace by Kulbir Singh swelled the margin to 6-0.
In the other matches, Services vanquished Karnataka 4-2, while Chandigarh got the better of Bengal 2-1.
For Services, Sunil Ekka (11th, 46th), Suresh Kumar (36th) and Sumo Ekka (54th) scored while Amar Aiyamma netted the two goals (19th, 49th) for Karnataka.
Sunil Ekka converted the penalty corner early in the game and Amar Aiyamma drew parity and the teams were 1-1 at the breather.
Suresh Kumar and Sunil Ekka converted the two short corners that came their way and the score line went up 3-1 in favour of Services.
Aiyamma struck again to reduce the margin 3-2 but Sumo Ekka gave the finishing touch as Services marched ahead 4-2.
Chandigarh dominated the game from the start and Gurtej Singh put the team ahead in the third minute before adding one more to the tally in the 59th.
The only solace for Bengal was that P K Das converted a short corner in the 67th minute to reduce the margin 2-1.
Results:
Pool A: Indian Railways bt Indian Airlines 3-2.
Pool C : Punjab bt Uttar Pradesh 6-0.
Pool B: Chandigarh bt Bengal 2-1
Pool D: Services bt Karnataka 4-2.
