Nyayadhani Knights Beat Rajdhani Royals 2-1 on Chhattisgarh Hockey League Opening Night
Correction — 22 October: Our first report of this match said 2-0, taken from the league’s live score graphics. The full agency match report has the Royals scoring, and it is right: the correct score is 2-1. We have corrected this article, and the fuller corrected report is here: corrected 2-1 report.
A brand new league only gets one first night, and in Raipur it belonged to Bilaspur.
Nyayadhani Knights beat Rajdhani Royals 2-1 in the first match in Chhattisgarh Hockey League history at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Hockey Stadium on Thursday night, scoring twice before the Royals replied, then defending the lead like a side that had been doing it for years.
Two goals, a reply, job done
Chirag put the Knights ahead in the 12th minute from a penalty corner. Ketan Kushwaha doubled the lead early in the second quarter, beating a couple of defenders before finding the net. Raushan pulled one back for the Royals, and the hosts pushed hard through the third quarter without finding an equaliser.
The captains’ duel went the defender’s way. Surender Kumar, the Olympian leading the Knights, took a blow to the face in the second quarter and still ran the defence that protected the lead. Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, captaining the hosts, watched his Royals side huff through a goalless second half in front of their own crowd. Raipur turned up for a party. Bilaspur’s team bus took the points home.
Rajdhani Royals XI: Himanshu Malick (GK), Sanjit Tirkey, Junaid Ahmad, Sandeep Yadav, Taufik Ahmad, Premchand Soy, Piyush Kumar Sahu, Sumit Minj, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (C), Raushan Kumar, Aniket Kujur.
Nyayadhani Knights XI: Rahul Thakur (GK), Lavi Manikpuri, Ashwin Kujur, Rohit Rajak, Sonu Nishad, Arbaz Ali, Adarsh Raj Singh, Surender Kumar (C), Ketan Kushwaha, Rohit Kullu, Chirag.
What it means, and what’s next
One game doesn’t make a league, but the first table of the CHL has the Knights on top and the Royals already chasing. With 18 matches in 11 days, nobody gets long to sulk. Friday brings Mainpat Titans v Bailadila Bulls (5:30 pm IST) and Chakradhar Champions v Sanskardhani Strikers (7:30 pm IST), and the Royals are back on Saturday against the Champions.
Every match streams live on JioHotstar. On this evidence, the Knights are the side the others have to solve first.
