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Railways beat RCF, Kapurthala to win hockey meet

Railways beat RCF, Kapurthala to win hockey meet

Hindustan Times06-05-2025

Chandigarh, Railways defeated Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala 3-1 in tie-breaker to win the 6th edition of the Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh Memorial hockey tournament here on Tuesday. HT Image
Both teams were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation time and the winner was decided via tie-breaker in the match which was played at Raghbir Singh Bhola Hockey Ground, 3 Base Repair Depot, Air Force Station.
Air Marshal P K Ghosh, Air Officer-in-Charge, Administration, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the tournament which was held from April 29 to May 6 and saw participation of 12 teams, including Air Force hockey side from Bangladesh.
The medals and trophies were presented to the winners and runner-up teams along with a cash award of ₹ 3 lakh and ₹ 2 lakh respectively.
Air Commodore Rajeev Shrivastava, Air-Officer-Commanding, 3BRD and Group Captain Manpreet Singh, Chief Administrative Officer, 3BRD Chandigarh were also present to felicitate the award winners.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Air Marshal P K Ghosh said: "This tournament has truly lived up to its expectations of lifting the standards of the game of hockey to a highly competitive level.
"I am glad to know that all the matches were played in the true spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie."
He praised the coaches and support staff for having worked hard to bring the the best out of their teams and make this event a success.
He congratulated the Air Force Sports Control, 3BRD and the organising committee for the successful conduct of the tournament.
Air Force Sports Control Board has been organising the hockey tournament in the memory of late Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh at 3 BRD, Air Force Station, Chandigarh since 2018.
An icon of India's military history, Singh had successfully led the IAF during the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
Singh died on September 16, 2017, at the age of 98.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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'All of us should be indebted to her for taking that initiative.' — Anjali Pendharkar, Indian Railways cricketer, about an act by Diana Edulji, Delhi, November 1976. For decades, women's cricket in India was played in pockets around the vast nation without a well-defined structure. The Women's Cricket Association of India, founded in 1973, changed that to some extent, but there was still no money in the sport – certainly not enough for anyone to turn professional. India women played their first Test matches against the West Indies, in 1975-76. Debuting in the first game was Diana Edulji, whose father had been an employee of Western Railways. Playing with the local boys – mostly children of Railways employees – had not only sparked her interest in sports but had also kept her 'connected to the Railways family'. Railways minister Kamalapati Tripathi attended the third Test of that West Indies series, at Delhi. His daughter-in-law Chandra Tripathi was the WCAI president at that point. Edulji walked up to him during the match with a simple request: her father was set to retire that same year, and she wanted a job with Railways. Edulji thus became the first female cricketer to be employed by Indian Railways under their sports quota. She did not have to worry about her livelihood anymore. She could solely focus on playing cricket, but she did not stop at that. She went all out to ensure other Indian women earned the same privilege as well. It was not the first time Indian Railways offered livelihoods to cricketers. Their men's team had been playing in the Ranji Trophy since 1958–59. However, this was different, for Edulji got a job despite there being no Railways women's team. That initiative had to wait until 1984, when a group of female cricketers reached out to Railways minister Madhavrao Scindia for jobs through Edulji. 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But Railways did not stop there. They recruited cricketers who did well for other teams. It was not a big challenge, for they offered financial security at a time when the players earned practically nothing. When cricketers from other states came together only for or just ahead of the season, the Railways employees trained together around the year. All this obviously resulted in Railways emerging as the strongest team in India by the proverbial mile. At the helm was Edulji herself, not only as cricketer but as captain, equipped with innovative strategies and a burning desire to win. They would steamroll oppositions, match after match, year after year … This led to two problems. First, Indian cricket was reduced to a monopoly. Secondly, a young cricketer often impressed for another side and got recruited by the Railways. While that sorted her livelihood, the competition at Railways was so stiff that she often got left out of the playing XI and fell out of national contention. Air India's arrival as a rival in 1991 addressed both issues. Like Railways, they too began to recruit cricketers from other states to build their team. They provided stern competition to Railways, and not just on the field; their cricketers travelled by air. The duopoly benefitted the national team. Between 1994 and 2005, India won six out of eight bilateral ODI series and a triangular tournament in New Zealand, which also featured Australia; and reached the World Cup final for the first time. The two organisations also recruited the two biggest names in Indian cricket: while Railways had Mithali Raj on their payroll, Air India got Jhulan Goswami. The intense rivalry ended in 2006 when the BCCI took over women's cricket from the WCAI. Since Air India was not a registered BCCI member, they were ineligible to participate in any cricket arranged by the board. Air India had to disband their team, and the Railways juggernaut resumed. As Edulji moved on to an administrative role for the side after retirement, Raj stepped in as her heir. Barring 2011–12 and 2018– 19, Railways has won the Women's Senior One-Day Trophy every time it has been hosted. Even in the fickler T20 format, they have missed only thrice – in 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2023–24. There have been challengers from time to time, but there is little doubt over their sustained supremacy. As per the Supreme Court's recommendations in 2018, the Railways should have lost their vote at the BCCI. Yet, they stayed put. 'In view of the security of employment of the players from Railways as well as the ability to demonstrate playing skills and having regard to women's cricket as an integral part of Indian Cricket, it appears necessary to consider this as an exception,' elaborated amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium. Today, the BCCI offers retainers to female cricketers. There is enough incentive for women to become full-time professional cricketers. The Women's Premier League (WPL) has brought unprecedented riches to women's cricket. But long before that, Indian Railways had become the first large-scale recruiters of women in the sport. The Original English Lady Cricketers (OELC) had predated them by nearly a century (see Chapter 37). Unlike the OELC, however, the Railways team did not disappear overnight. They have not only stayed but are likely to dominate Indian cricket for some time.

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