Tirkey’s brace powers Armymen to victory

Army XI rode on a brace by former India star Ignace Tirkey to beat Indian Air Force 4-1 in a Pool B match of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium in the capital on Wednesday. Poovanna gave Army XI the lead in the 23rd minute with a field goal as they went into the half time with the advantage. In the second half, the Airmen made a comeback through Sanwar in the 43rd minute. However, Tirkey struck his first goal seven minutes later to put his team ahead and then almost sealed the match with another strike five minutes from time. Binay struck in the penultimate minute to round off an easy win for the Army team. In a Group A match earlier, Air India beat Indian Navy 3-1. Arjun Halappa gave the winners the lead in the third minute. Mohammed Sahir doubled the advantage in the 20th minute but just minutes before half time, Indian Navy pulled one back through Ved Prakash. A Lalit Upadhyay strike in the 66th minute gave his team a 3-1 verdict against their opponents.