RailEnquiry

MUMBAI: What's in a name, they say. Well, if the name is Chinglen Sana, it makes a huge difference. The India international scored a brace and shepherded Western Railway to the Mumbai Magicians-Mumbai Hockey Association-conducted Super League title at the Mahindra Stadium on Wednesday.

Western defeated Indian Navy 4-2 to walk home with a glittering trophy and Rs 100,000 cash award. Navy for their part, had to be content with the runner's up trophy and Rs 60,000.

"It made a huge difference today," Western Railway coach Sunil Kumar Singh said about Sana's influence on the game. "He is an international player. His presence not only boosts the confidence of his teammates, but also puts the opposition under pressure. It worked well for us. He also scored a couple of goals," he added.

Speaking about the match, Singh said: "We went all out. All the plans and strategies we had drawn, were implemented to the T. I am really satisfied with today's performance."

Sana, however, chose to play down his performance. "It was a team effort," he said, but admitted that being in the national team helped because he could come up with some vital inputs. "The advantage of being an international is you get to work with the best coaches and support staff. It is a great learning process and I tried to implement what I learnt in the camps. My coach also welcomed my inputs. But other than that, I don't think I made any difference. On the playing field, we played as a unit and won as a team," he said.

Navy coach, P L Murugappan was satisfied with the team's overall performance but felt that his team lacked maturity and that is why they lost in the final.

"The thing is our boys are very young and some of them are playing the Super League for the first time. I guess they lacked the acumen to play in a big match like this. I am sure with time, they will improve a lot. Chinglen (Sana) also was a young and immature lad but because he is playing with senior pros he has improved so much. Clearly, he made a huge difference. I am confident that my boys will be the team to beat once they mature a bit," he said.

Results: Western Railway 4 (Kuldeep Singh 29th min, Chinglen Sana 38th, 48th, Stanli Minz 54th) beat Indian Navy 2 (Faheen Khan 39th, 68th).

Awards: Player of the tournament: Devinder Walmiki (Central Railway) cash award of Rs 7,000; Best goalkeeper: Avdhoot Solankar (Central Railway) Best defender: Kuldeep Singh (WR); Best midfielder: Ksh Wangamba (UBI); Best forward: Usaf ur Rehman (UBI), all received a cash award of Rs 3,000 each.