13th Manipur Polo International India-B crush India-A 12-3, England seal third win on trot

By Our Sports Reporter
IMPHAL, Nov 25 : India-B represented by Manipur won big against India A as England cruised to their third win on the fourth day of the 13th Manipur Polo International  2019 which is underway at Mapal Kangjeibung under the supervision of Manipur Horse Riding and Polo Association.
In the fifth match of the tournament, India-B which took off with a 5-4 win against France, ran riot to decimate fellow India-A team by 12-3 goals today courtesy of trebles by Th Jacob, P Ojit and team captain T Pradeep.
The goal fest started early with P Ojit breaking the deadlock in the first minute of the match and T Pradeep smashed home two goals without any interruption in the second and the third minute to make it 3-0.
India-A which were toiling hard to get the ball were further embarrassed as Th Jacob all his three goals for the Manipur team within fifth to sixth minute of the game before Vijay Singh pulled back a goal for India-A and made it 1-6 at the end of the first chukker.
In the second chukker, Leishemba T struck once to extend India-B's lead while India-A scored their second through Lt Col Sameer Choudhary before P Ojit completed his double for Manipur in the last minute to make it 8-2.
Sameer Choudhary scored another in the third chukker but it proved to be their last goal  for India-A and to compound their misery, H Abungkhuman struck India-B's 9th goal and made it 9-2 till the end of three chukkers.
There was no stopping for India-B despite the huge lead in the last chukker as P Ojit and T Pradeep completed their trebles and H Abungkhuman grabbed his second goal to wrap up the game 12-3.
Meanwhile another match, England survived late scare to win 6-5 and boost their final hopes. England which were on high with two of two previous victories got off to a good start and led the first chukker 2-0 thanks to George Amor's double.
Chris Crawford solidified their lead with another goal in the second minute of the second chukker but France managed a goal back through Romain Daroux and made it 1-3 till the break.
George Amor who has been the face of England from the last two matches, then completed his treble after Ben Eley and Will Seth Smith consolidated a goal each to make it 6-1 till the third chukker.
France made a determined effort in the last chukker and seemed to draw level as Clement Gosset and Romain Daroux managed two goals apiece but their effort fell short and eventually had to witness their third narrow defeat at the tourney.
India B will meet USA in the next match tomorrow while India A will meet France latter in the 8th match.