Ram Charan Hyderabad Polo and Racing Club (RC HPRC) were crowned winners as they defeated Indian Navy by seven-and-a-half goals to six in the finals of the Chief Minister’s Cup held here on Monday. Dhruvpal Godhara once again top-scored for RC HPRC with four goals. The difference in the team handicaps saw the match begin with RC HPRC getting half-a-goal advantage. Both the teams played an attacking game from the start but missed out on many scoring opportunities in the first chukker of the game. It was Akhil Sirohi of the Navy who shot the first goal within the initial two minutes giving his team the required lead.
The second chukker saw a near similar repeat of events but with increased adrenal levels. Akhil once again struck early with teammates Manupal Godhara and A.P. Singh chipping in. It took a straight shot from Dhruvpal for RC HPRC to get their first goal which came during the second minute of the chukker. Navy entered the third round with four goals while RC HPRC were struggling at one-and-a-half goals. Sameer Suhag, who captained the RC HPRC team, was aggressive in his approach and hammered a goal during the second minute. Dhruvpal and Sajid soon joined the party striking a goal each as RC HPRC were now in the lead. But Manupal, playing against his brother, scored a goal seconds before the chukker ended to turn tides once again in favour of his team.
The match was a see-saw battle and witnessed many nervous moments. While Dhruvpal was the first to strike in the final chukker, his brother replied with a goal in the very next minute. But the match was sealed in the favour of RC HPRC when Sameer tapped the ball through the goal posts in the fifth minute and Dhurvpal repeated the act in the sixth. The Navy tried their best to swing the match in their favour but the smart manoeuvring skills of their opponents saw RC HPRC emerge winners and walk away with the Rs 45,000 cash prize.
Ram Charan, the proud owner of the RC HPRC was delighted. “I am very happy with the team’s performance. We will now look to win the Army (Commander’s) Trophy,” he said. “I did not see this coming. It started as a passion and now I am extremely happy with the results,” Ram Charan added. In the other events which were conducted alongside the match, Cdt Amit Kumar won the Young Rider Jumping Accumulator award while Major Bhawani Singh was the winner of the Tent Pegging and Swr Mubarite Khan emerged victorious in the Novice Jumping event.