Nyayadhani Knights Shut Out Rajdhani Royals 2-0 on Chhattisgarh Hockey League Opening Night
A brand new league only gets one first night, and in Raipur it belonged to Bilaspur.
Nyayadhani Knights beat Rajdhani Royals 2-0 in the first match in Chhattisgarh Hockey League history at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Hockey Stadium on Thursday night, scoring both goals before half-time and then defending the lead like a side that had been doing it for years.
Two goals, one half, job done
The Knights struck first in the opening quarter, a penalty-corner drag-flick beating the Royals keeper with 11:26 still on the first-quarter clock, and doubled it early in the second quarter to lead 2-0. The league’s live updates had it 1-0 after one quarter, 2-0 at half-time and still 2-0 after three, and the Royals never found a way back.
The captains’ duel went the defender’s way. Surender Kumar, the Olympian leading the Knights, got the clean sheet his game is built on. 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.
Before the match: our opening-night preview and the league launch explainer, plus the night’s other opener in Chennai — the Murugappa Gold Cup Day 1 thriller.
