Women’s HIL 2025-26: Bengal Tigers beats SG Pipers on penalties

It has been really difficult to separate the SG Pipers and Shrachi Bengal Tigers in the ongoing season of the Women’s Hockey India League. It was evident in the reverse leg on New Year’s Day. And there was a rerun of the same on Tuesday as the game trickled down to a dramatic sudden death once again after a goalless hour of play at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Stadium in Ranchi.

However, the Tigers have had the last roar on each of these occasions, finishing on the right ends of Thursday’s 3(4)-3(3) and the latest 0(7)-0(6) scorelines. The crowd, left craving for more after the regulation time of the 10th game, was treated to a dramatic shootout that saw a combined 20 penalty shots being taken. While Purnima Yadav and Noor de Baat found the net twice, it was Sukhveer Kaur’s final attempt that sealed the deal.

Earlier, the Tigers had a better opportunity to disturb the parity in the opening quarter itself through two penalty corners (PC), but they went off the rails.

It was adventurous of the Pipers to start with the maximum possible nine Indians, Kaitlin Nobbs and Teresa Viana being the only imports on the AstroTurf. Nobbs, in fact, was being made to play out of her natural position at centre-back to intercept Lalremisiami’s blistering runs.

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A scorching backhander from Emma Findlay on the left posed the first real threat 20 minutes into the game. But Solanki Bansari was up to the task. The Indian goalkeeper was tested again with Victoria Manuele threading a cheeky back-pass to Vandana Katariya, who swung just wide.

The Pipers displayed a tad more initiative in the final two quarters, with seven of their 10 circle entries coming inside the said period. But the goals continued to elude both parties until the final hooter.

Published on Jan 06, 2026