After a blistering day of action, with two highly competitive semi finals played out, Sports Authority of India and Railway Sports Promotion Board will match up in the final to decide the inaugural Hockey India Senior Women Inter-Department National Champions 2021. The two teams had played out a memorable encounter in the group stage and will look to perform better with the stakes raised in the final.
Sports Authority of India booked their place first, beating Central Reserve Police Force 2-1 in a hard fought victory in the first game of the day. SAI opened the scoring via captain Manisha Chauhan’s penalty corner goal in the 11th minute. A few minutes into the third quarter CRPF equalised, Siddhi Singh drawing them level in the 35th minute. From there on the game took on a feisty edge, with both teams unwilling to give an inch. SAI’s Vartika Rawat was awarded a green card in the 53rd minute and at that time it seemed the momentum had slipped away from them, but right at the death, in the 59th minute, SAI won a PC and through an improvised routine, Manisha Chauhan slotted home her second of the day, a winner that was her 12th of the Championship and the one that would take her team to the final.
In the second game of the day, Railway Sports Promotion Board scored three goals in three quarters to comfortably eke out a 3-0 victory over Sashastra Seema Bal and qualify for the finals. RSPB have not dropped a single game in the tournament and have conceded a mere 4, while scoring 60, and on the basis of their performance look favourites for the title. Goals in the semi final were scored by Shilpi Dabas (17′, 45′) and Preeti Dubey (46′).
