Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) came back from a two-goal deficit to defeat defending champions and Railway Sports Promotion Council favorites in a penalty shootout and win the Inter-Industry Women’s Badminton Hockey Championship for the third time at the Shivaji Stadium here on Tuesday.

The Railways, once the undisputed leader in women’s national hockey, has been stunned by the resistance of a team that was formed only last year and is participating in its first competition. With both teams boasting Indian women’s hockey, including a majority of the national team players, it was encouraging to see a large crowd come out to support the team, something that has become quite rare in hockey in Delhi.

The Railways had experience and started strong, attacking early and leaving the IOC out of space with a tight defence.

Goalkeeper Rajni Ittimarpu held out despite some early interventions by the IOC, and it was no surprise that it was Vandana Kataria – the only Indian to have more than 300 international caps – who put the goalkeeper ahead in the 12th minute. 

Mariana Kogor scored a deflected goal three minutes later to take a 2-0 lead as the Rail Girls made their intentions clear.

They worked well together, creating spaces to continually progress and test the IOC even as Deep Grace Ekka brilliantly led the defence. The IOC conceded 9 corner kicks, but were blocked several times, with Shelby Dabas even saving a goal in the final minute.

The second half saw the IOC play more aggressively with Sharmila Devi, Rajwinder Kaur and Jyoti constantly creating chances but they could not get past Rajni. But every time the gap closed, the railroads found a way to fight back almost immediately. Leading 4-2 with five minutes to go, Railways looked set to complete a hat-trick of titles, but made an error in finishing off the game from the start, leaving the defense open and Rajwinder Kaur made no mistake in scoring the third goal before that. A corner kick was awarded. With just one minute left in the match, Jyoti scored a goal to send the match to penalties.

Dipika, Baljit Kaur and Jyoti completed the shootout for the IOC while Bichu Devi denied the Railway’s top pundits from scoring and only Sangeeta and Preeti Dubey netted.

SAI took third place

In the third place match, Sports Authority of India (SAI) defeated Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) 3-1. Result: Final: IOC 4 (Jyoti 2, Rajwinder Kaur, Sharmila Devi) beat RSPB 4 (Vandana Kataria 2, Marianna Kujur, Sangeeta Kumari) fearing ban.

3rd place: SAI 3 (Lalrindiki 2, Kavita) beating SSB 1 (Rajni Bala).

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