HIL 2025-26: Tamil Nadu Dragons rides late Soorma charge to clinch 3-2 win
Tamil Nadu Dragons did not quite hit top gear but did just enough to avert Soorma Hockey Club’s late charge and secure a 3-2 win in the Hockey India League at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.
Having blanked his first four attempts, Harmanpreet Singh sounded the board from a penalty corner with just over two minutes on the clock, leaving Soorma within reach of equalising.
But the surge in morale that secured Soorma another corner in the final minute met an anti-climactic end. Nicolas Keenan’s injection at receiver Vivek Sagar Prasad was off the mark, forcing Harmanpreet to fetch the ball from a wider angle and thus ending the opening at goal.
The close finish was nowhere on the cards after a listless display from Soorma through three-fourths of the game.
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Soorma’s nerves while playing out from the back nearly cost it only seconds after the pushback. Mohammed Raheel snatched the ball from Vivek Sagar at the 25-yard line. Once the ball was inside the circle, Blake Govers fancied his chances for a tomahawk but found it saved by Vincent Vanasch.
Dragons had another look in the 12th minute, from a penalty corner won by Nathan Ephraums. Sushil Dhanwar stepped up for the set-piece but failed to beat the first rusher. In the 23rd minute, Ephraums’ quick turn-and-shoot missed the goal by a whisker.
But the Dragons needed only two minutes to pull themselves clear. Chandan Yadav trapped the ball in the circle on the right and slapped it square to an awaiting Selvaraj Kangaraj for a close-range finish.
In the final minute of the first half, Uttam Singh got to a loose ball that had sprayed away from teammate Selvam Karthi’s stick, turned goalwards, and slotted it past Vincent Vanasch with a reverse-stick finish.
The mere four circle penetrations were indicative of how out of sorts Soorma were. Their most clear chance arrived in the 26th minute when Maninder Singh tiptoed past three defenders to set up Pawan Rajbhar on the right, with the latter’s shot flying off target.
Soorma had to bide 36 minutes for their first short corner, which too was more a lucky break as Uttam lost sight of a slap shot coming into the circle from Harmanpreet. The captain was far from his usual best from the top of the circle and fluffed his dragflick into the first rusher’s stick.
Just a minute later, Akashdeep flashed a reverse hit across the face of the goal, only to be left begging for a connection from Prabhjot Singh at the far post.
Soorma had almost resigned themselves to fate when Amit Rohidas’ long-range hit into the circle was found by Ephraums, who disturbed the net with a reverse hit. But a timely referral led to the goal being disallowed for a back-stick foul. From the resulting free hit, Sander de Wijn fumbled Harmanpreet’s aerial in his own circle, leaving Maninder free to blast a shot past David Harte and keep Soorma in the contest.
In the first minute of the fourth period, Tom Craig retrieved the ball in his own half, dragged himself along the right flank, and whipped a cross for Govers to hit the third. Soorma looked out of attempts at this point until Harmanpreet conjured the spirit to persist late in the quarter.
Published on Jan 06, 2026