A Wednesday double-header in Chennai witnessed two high-scoring clashes with HIL Governing Council stunning defending champions Bengal Tigers 6-3 and last-year’s finalists Hyderabad Toofans staging a stirring fightback against Ranchi Royals to win 3-2 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium.
In the first match of the day, New Zealand drag flicker Kane Russell continued his remarkable start to the season, with two hat-tricks in two matches as HIL GC pumped six past Tigers. The scoreline, however, doesn’t tell the complete story as Tigers staged a strong fightback to make it 3-4 in the third quarter with two quickfire goals. But Russell’s third drag flick of the night and a James Alberry tap-in late on, when Tigers had pulled out the goalkeeper, added a significant gloss to the scoreline. The result moved HIL GC to the top of the table with two outright wins in two matches.
The second game saw Toofans go down 0-2 against Royals, but then stage a remarkable fightback to register their first outright win of the season. FIH World Player of the Year 2025 Tom Boon (11’, 17’) struck twice for Royals in the first half, but the side – who had lost their previous match after a similar situation – paid the price for a lacklustre second half once more. Head coach Harendra Singh was aware of the intensity dropping off against Kaling Lancers and called for four quarters of high energy and not two. But goals from Amandeep Lakra (42’), Nic Woods (45’) and Talwinder Singh (57’) helped Toofans steal a comeback win.
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While Amandeep and Woods scored superbly from penalty corners with well-taken drag flicks, the eventual match-winning goal from Talwinder would have frustrated Harendra the most. A simple missed pass in deep defence by Maxime van Oost opened up a three-way attack on the Royals’ goal, and Talwinder Singh slotted home from the edge of the circle after possession was turned over. Toofans moved into third place after this victory.
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