Tournament favorite Mumbai Marines became the first team to be out of the semifinal race. With just 10 points on board, and only two matches remaining, even two wins will keep them behind the current top four teams in the points table. On a day, when the first match provided the first semifinalist of the tournament, in the second match of the day, Mumbai Marines are declared knocked out from 2012 WSH.
Led by Indian goal Keeper Adrian D’Souza, Marines started as tournament favorite. The star-studded team looked on course to meet their reputation when they were placed 5th after half-way, although very close to the top four in the points table. But the second half of the tournament saw further poor performances from the team and in just five matches of second leg they are knocked out of the tournament, losing 8 matches out of the 12 played.
Goal Scorers
Joga Singh scored a hattrick in the lost cause against Strykers in the first match. With 7 goals so far, Joga is their leading scorer.
Devender Walmiki (4 goals), Troy Sutherland (3), Aijub Ekka, Ajmer Singh, Bimal Lakra, Sandeep Michael (2 each), Anup Anthony, G M Hariprasad, Banmali Xess (1 each) are other goal scorers.
Tournament March Deep Down
They lost both matches to Pune 5-7 and 2-4, 2-3 and 1-2 to Sher-E-Punjab. Drawn 2-2 against Wizards, and lost 1-2 at Away match. Lost 2-5 to Comets, Won 4-2 against Cheetahs.
They won 1-0 against Badshahs but lost 1-2 at Home, won 2-1 against Lions but lost 4-2 at home.
Weak Team on Ground
Despite being tournament favorite, they underperformed as team on the field. They have scored the second least number of goals (25 goals) in the tournament, and conceded the maximum goals (34) after 12 matches. Overall their Goal Difference of -9 is the worst among all teams.
WSH vs IPL
If World Series Hockey can be compared to Indian Premier League, then Mumbai Marines have a lot to be happy. Even in IPL the tournament favorites finished at the bottom in the first edition, and then went on to win the next edition. Prepare for Next WSH tournament Mumbai Marines!!
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