Charlotte Englebert scored the first hat-trick of the Women’s Hockey India League to catapult JSW Soorma Hockey Club into the final with a 4-2 win over Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers.
The Tigers’ men, though, gave a better account of themselves later on Friday at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Stadium here, emerging on the right side of a 5-3 goal-fest against the Vedanta Kalinga Lancers.
Englebert flew off the blocks in the last fixture of the pool stage, losing her markers and pumping in the quickest goal of the tournament in 43 seconds.
Employing a high press against the Tigers’ 4-3-3, Jude Menezes’ girls widened the gap as soon as Sharmila Devi’s cross took a deflection and landed inside Hina Bano’s hitting arc.
The Tigers needed to win by at least a five-goal margin to set up a title clash with the Odisha Warriors on Sunday. However, any chances of recovery were put to bed when Englebert returned to unleash a backhanded strike for goal. She rubbed salt in the wound, converting a penalty stroke, ensuring the Tigers get nightmares for many days to come.
Vandana Katariya and Shilpi Dabas pulled two back in the final quarter to have the final scoreline wear a tad respectable look.
A high-octane, end-to-end action took centre-stage in the second game. Jugraj Singh found an equaliser with a ripper in the 10th minute after Angad Bir Singh opened the Lancers’ account amid a goalmouth scramble.
The Lancers’ Thierry Brinkman was quick to come up with the riposte, but a sizzling dragflick from skipper Rupinder Pal Singh off a penalty corner (PC) saw the Tigers pull things level once again.
Jugraj grabbed another PC opportunity by the scruff of the neck to have the Tigers take the lead for the first time.
Abhishek added to the Tigers’ tally in the dying moments of the opening half. However, an Alexander Hendrickx strike in the third quarter conveyed that the Lancers weren’t here to solely make up the numbers.
Eventually, a sly touch from Pardeep Sandhu at the baseline ensured the Tigers remained at arm’s length.
The results:
Women: JSW Soorma Hockey Club 4 (Englebert 1, 17 & 47, Hina 9) bt Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers 2 (Vandana 48, Shilpi 58)
Men: Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers 5 (Jugraj 10 & 27, Rupinder 16, Abhishek 30, Pardeep 40) bt Vedanta Kalinga Lancers 3 (Angad 5, Brinkman 11, Hendrickx 33)