CWG: Savita stars as Indian women win hockey medal after 16 years
Birmingham(PTI): Skipper Savita Punia led from the front with a spectacular display as the Indian women's hockey team overcame the stopwatch controversy to beat New Zealand 2-1 in shootout and win the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games here Sunday.
This is the team's first medal at CWG in 16 years.
Leading 1-0, India conceded a penalty corner with less than 30 seconds to go for the final hooter, as the match went into shootout after Olivia Merry's equaliser.
In the regulation time, India got the lead through Salima Tete in the 29th minute.
Coming off their heartbreaking loss to Australia in a controversial semifinal, India showed the intent to wrap up their campaign with a win and earn a podium finish.
The Indians were done in by a horrendous timing faux pas in the shoot-out against Australia.
In the shootout on Sunday, India captain and goalkeeper Savita showed her class, pulling off three spectacular saves to give her side its third CWG medal.
After Megan Hull put New Zealand ahead, an agile Savita denied Rose Tynan, Katie Doar and Olivia Shanon, while Sonika and Navneet scored for India to register a famous win.
The Indians came out attacking and made plenty of circle penetrations but failed to break the solid New Zealand defence.
India gained the tempo as the match progressed and built their attacks using both the flanks.
But it was New Zealand who came close to taking the lead in the first quarter, in the form of a penalty corner which was well defended by the Indians.
Minutes later Sangita Kumari's shot on target was blocked by the Kiwi defence. Seconds later Salima's shot zoomed across the right side of New Zealand goal.
The Indians continued in the same vein in the second quarter and had the better share of ball possession, but they failed to break the resolute New Zealand defence.
In the 26th minute, New Zealand came tantalisingly close to taking the lead from a counter attack.
India finally broke the New Zealand defence a minute from half time through Salima, who scored off a rebound with a reverse hit after Navneet Kaur's initial shot was saved by the opposition goalie.
India kept up the pressure after the change of ends, and in the 35th minute, secured their first variation, but the chance was wasted. Minutes later, excellent work by Navneet and Neha Goyal set it up for Sonika, who just had to get her stick on the ball, but failed.
Merry seemed to have equalised for New Zealand in the 43rd minute against the run of play, but the goal was disallowed after India went for the referral, claiming that the free hit wasn't taken from the 5m line.
The Indians lived dangerously in the final quarter.
India got three penalty corners in succession in the 52nd minute but Gurjit Kaur failed to get past New Zealand custodian Grace O'Hanlon.
The Indians lived dangerously in the fag end of the match and with two-and-half minutes remaining, Lalremisiami got an unnecessary yellow card, reducing her side to 10 players.
The Kiwis took advantage of that and secured a penalty corner with seconds from the hooter, which resulted in a penalty stroke, as Navneet deliberately kicked the goal-bound ball.
Merry stepped up and foxed Savita to draw level and take the match into shoot-out.
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Kolkata Port: Decline in number of voters during SIR brings in uncertainty in TMC bastion
Kolkata (PTI): A sharp decline in the number of voters following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has injected an element of uncertainty into the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency, considered a safe seat for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The electorate in the south Kolkata constituency has dropped from 2.36 lakh in the 2021 Assembly polls to around 1.75 lakh, a fall of nearly 26 per cent, prompting political parties to closely assess its potential impact on the April 29 polling.
The TMC re-nominated senior minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, who has held the seat for two consecutive terms, while the BJP fielded Rakesh Singh. The Congress nominated Aquib Gulzar, and the CPI(M) put up Faiyaz Ahmad Khan, making it a four-cornered contest.
Kolkata Port, part of the Kolkata Dakshin parliamentary constituency, comprises dock areas, old business districts and densely populated neighbourhoods. Muslim voters form a significant segment of the electorate, alongside traders, transport workers and working-class Hindu families.
The reduction in voter numbers has prompted party workers across formations to scrutinise the revised rolls booth-wise to identify deletions and assess whether specific localities have been affected.
Singh’s candidature has added a twist to the contest. He had earlier contested against Hakim as a Congress candidate but is now in the fray on a BJP ticket.
Hakim won the seat in 2016 by 26,548 votes, defeating Singh, and increased his margin significantly to 68,554 votes in 2021, polling over one lakh votes.
While the TMC has expressed confidence in retaining the seat, opposition parties have raised concerns over the voter list revision, alleging that names of genuine voters have been removed.
“People here know who has stood by them. Elections are decided by trust,” Hakim told PTI during a campaign event.
Singh claimed several residents had complained about missing names in the rolls, stressing the need for transparency. The CPI(M) nominee also said voters in several areas had raised similar concerns.
The constituency has remained a difficult terrain for the opposition in recent elections.
Civic issues such as sanitation, traffic congestion and declining business activity in traditional markets also feature in the campaign in the constituency, though the revised voter list has emerged as a key talking point.
Polling in the constituency will be held in the second phase on April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.
