Battle of brothers: PSPB emerge winners over RSPB in Nehru Hockey

Within the final played between Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) at the Diamond Jubilee SNBP-Nehru Hockey Cup, a mini-battle played out between two brothers in opposition camps.

Yuvraj Walmiki and Devinder Walmiki, who have both represented India in the past, turned out in opposite colours with the former playing for PSPB and the latter for RSPB in an intriguing battle at the Capital’s Shivaji Stadium that was decided only in the final quarter.

The game was in a deadlock till the final quarter with no goals and not even a single penalty corner before Kukoo Walia, the secretary of the tournament organizer committee, asked the two teams to up the ante as the crowd that had gathered became restless.

The attack from one side was met with a solid wall of defence from the other side up until then.

Devinder Walmiki presses forward against RSPB

RSPB and PSPB, both among the leading teams of the country, played insipid hockey for most part of the game. The first three quarters saw the ball restricted to midfield. Railways forwards Pradeep, Simarjot and Darshan Gawkar were subdued while Pratap Lakra was off colour too. Gursahibjit Singh missed a sitter in the 46th minute for the Railways.

Most of the thrill, however, was reserved for the final quarter when both sides pressed for a goal.

However, soon after that call from Walia at the end of the third quarter, the PSPB managed to enforce a couple of penalty corners as action was infused by Tejas Chavan and Vishal Pandey who made concerted raids from both the wings.

The resultant penalty corners on both occasions were cashed in on by Gurjinder Singh, who was also declared the Man of the Tournament. He ended as the top goalscorer of the tournament with five.

Gurjinder Singh getting the Man of the Tournament Award

“It is a bit disappointing that we lost the final. We were the best team throughout this tournament. We have been doing extremely well. Since 2015, we have crashed out in semifinals only four time,” said Yuvraj after the 2-0 loss in the final. He scored five goals in the tournament.

“It is always good to be playing against your own brother. It is a different atmosphere at home whenever RSPB plays PSPB. Of course, I am happy that the trophy is coming home either way. RSPB was the better team in the tournament. Today, probably we didn’t play to the potential.”

Yuvraj said that Devinder being the younger gets more blessings from home than me.

“We always have competitive atmosphere between ourselves. Yesterday, when both of us won our respective semi-finals we decided not to meet or go out. We’ve playing against each other for a long time.”

Devinder said that his target was to play good hockey.

“We have played against each other in the past. Nothing new. He works for a different place, I work for another place. This will happens. We played against each other at the Senior National Championships, where we won in shootouts. It is a good feeling,” said Devinder, who is one of the only three Indian players to play in the Dutch top tier league after Dilip Tirkey and Gagan Ajit Singh.

Nothing comes out of this goalmouth melee between RSPB and PSPB

Besides the gold trophy, the winners bagged a cheque of Rs 5.51 lakh.

The runners-up got a cheque of Rs 2.51 lakh besides a silver trophy.

Tags : Nehru hockey, Yuvraj Walmiki, Devinder Walmiki, PSPB, RSPB, Railways, Shivaji Stadium, New Delhi, Gurjinder Singh