Halfway Through the Super Six, the Old Order Is Upside Down in Rela Hospital - Tamil Hockey League 2026 ·
- Dr Prakash Ayyadurai
- 1 hour ago
- 10 min read
Tamil Hockey League 2026 · Super Six review after matches SS1–SS7 · Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, Egmore · 31 August 2026
The champions who almost didn't get here
A year ago, Indian Bank lifted the Tiruvallur Premier League. On the final afternoon of this season's league stage, they still weren't certain they'd be in the knockout race at all.
Drawn in Pool A, the holders never found top gear. A goalless draw with Sports Hostel of Excellence in Match 22 was greeted as a point won rather than two dropped — which tells you how far expectations had slipped. Then Southern Railway's Shanmugam P scored twice inside the final two minutes to beat them 3–2, and the champions were suddenly staring at the exit. They had to win their last two games just to survive.
They did — 7–2 against Income Tax, 4–0 against S M Nagar — and squeezed through third in Pool A on eight points. Title holders, in by the back door. It was supposed to be the reset. It has been the opposite.
Setting the field
The league stage ran 30 matches across 12 teams and two pools of six, producing 186 goals — better than six a game. The top three from each pool advanced.
Pool A — final
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
1 | SHE | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 13 | ✅ |
2 | SRL | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 9 | ✅ |
3 | IND | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 8 | ✅ |
4 | GST | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 7 | |
5 | ITX | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 22 | −2 | 6 | |
6 | SMN | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 27 | −23 | 0 |
Pool B — final
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
1 | IOB | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 8 | +14 | 13 | ✅ |
2 | ICF | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 10 | +12 | 12 | ✅ |
3 | AGS | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 9 | ✅ |
4 | FCI | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 7 | |
5 | PTM | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 27 | −15 | 3 | |
6 | DHV | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 24 | −20 | 0 |
Six qualifiers:
Sports Hostel of Excellence, Southern Railway, Indian Bank from Pool A;
Indian Overseas Bank, Integral Coach Factory, AGORC Chennai from Pool B.
The newcomers who belonged from day one
If the champions limped in, two first-time forces strode.
Sports Hostel of Excellence, the academy side out of Kovilpatti, played the league stage as though they'd been here for years. Four wins, one draw, and a back line that conceded just four goals in five matches — nobody in either pool guarded their circle better. S. Krishnan's drag-flicking handed them a set-piece weapon most opponents couldn't answer, and the only side to hold them was Indian Bank, in that 0–0. They took Pool A on goal difference and walked into the Super Six as the best-drilled team in the competition.
Integral Coach Factory arrived quieter and left the pool stage with nearly as much credit. Their only defeat came against Indian Overseas Bank; everything else they won, 22 goals scored, a goal scoring line built around Pruthvi G. M. — whose five-goal afternoon in a 9–2 rout of Pattabiram Strikers was the individual performance of the league stage. Second in Pool B, behind only IOB.
Two debut campaigns, two top-two finishes. The Super Six would decide whether it was real.
Seven down, eight to go
It's real for one of them. Sports Hostel have carried their form straight through: three matches unplayed as losses, eight points, top of the group, and a shoot-out bonus already banked. Neither they nor Indian Overseas Bank — a perfect two from two — has lost a match all tournament.
Behind them, AGORC Chennai are quietly third, unbeaten without ever catching the eye. Integral Coach Factory sit fourth, alive but leaking. And Southern Railway and Indian Bank have played five Super Six games between them without a point.
Thirty-eight goals in seven matches, 5.4 a game, not one clean sheet, and one shoot-out — Sports Hostel edging AGORC 3–2 in SS5 after a 2–2 draw to bank the bonus that may yet decide first place. Seventeen goals from penalty corners, seventeen from open play, four from strokes. It has been a set-piece tournament, and Krishnan alone has five of those corners.
The Super Six table (after SS7)
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | B | Pts | Form |
1 | SHE | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 1 | 8 | W D W |
2 | IOB | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 0 | 6 | W W |
3 | AGS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 0 | 4 | W D |
4 | ICF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 0 | 3 | L W |
5 | IND | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 0 | 0 | L L L |
6 | SRL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 0 | 0 | L L |
Win = 3, Draw = 1. B = bonus for a shoot-out win (Sports Hostel, SS5). Ranked on points, then goal difference, then goals for. Top four advance to the knockouts.
By the numbers (SS1–SS7)
Metric | Value |
Goals | 38 |
Goals per match | 5.4 |
Clean sheets | 0 |
Penalty-corner goals | 17 |
Field goals | 17 |
Penalty strokes | 4 |
Biggest win | Sports Hostel 7–2 Southern Railway (SS2) |
Hat-tricks | 2 — Patras Tirkey (SS1), S. Krishnan (SS2) |
Shoot-outs | 1 — SHE 3–2 AGORC |
Match by match
SS1 · 28 Aug — Indian Overseas Bank 6–2 Indian Bank
The champions were taken apart on the opening afternoon. Patras Tirkey drilled three penalty corners, Dilraj Singh added two strokes, and Indian Bank's title defence began with a four-goal beating.
Team | Scorers |
Indian Overseas Bank | Dilraj Singh (PS 1', 26'); Patras Tirkey (PC 6', 12', 17'); Deepak Pradhan (PC 59') |
Indian Bank | B. Sathish (PC 14'); G. Abishek (FG 58') |
Super Star of the match : Patras Tirkey (#24), Indian Overseas Bank
SS2 · 28 Aug — Sports Hostel of Excellence 7–2 Southern Railway
The newcomers announced themselves. Five different scorers, then S. Krishnan finished with a corner hat-trick of his own. Shanmugam P's late double for Railway was pure consolation.
Team | Scorers |
Sports Hostel of Excellence | S. Vishal (FG 3'); R. Velragavan (FG 8'); S. Krishnan (PC 23', 27', 55'); M. Mathesh (FG 30'); G. Nandhakumar (FG 51') |
Southern Railway | Shanmugam P (PC 55', FG 58') |
Super Star of the match : S. Krishnan (#33), Sports Hostel of Excellence
SS3 · 29 Aug — Integral Coach Factory 1–3 AGORC Chennai
The other debutants stumbled. Suresh Babu's brace, either side of a Kalanithi strike, gave AGORC a controlled win and left ICF chasing from the front.
Team | Scorers |
Integral Coach Factory | Dhanush (FG 28') |
AGORC Chennai | Suresh Babu (FG 33', 59'); Kalanithi K (FG 42') |
Super Star of the match: Suresh Babu (#7), AGORC Chennai
SS4 · 29 Aug — Indian Overseas Bank 2–1 Southern Railway
A tighter afternoon for the Bank. Chelsea Medappa's corner and a Deepak Pradhan field goal did the job; Railway keeper Suraj kept it respectable and took the individual award in defeat.
Team | Scorers |
Indian Overseas Bank | B. N. Chelsea Medappa (PC 32'); Deepak Pradhan (FG 48') |
Southern Railway | Shanmugam P (FG 12') |
Super Star of the match: Suraj (#30), Southern Railway
SS5 · 30 Aug — Sports Hostel of Excellence 2–2 AGORC Chennai (SHE win shoot-out 3–2)
The group's first stalemate and first shoot-out. Chiran Medappa dragged AGORC level twice; then SHE won the shoot-out, splitting the points and handing Sports Hostel the bonus.
Team | Scorers |
Sports Hostel of Excellence | S. Krishnan (PC); V. Aravind (FG) |
AGORC Chennai | Chiran Medappa (FG); Chiran Medappa (PS) |
Super Star of the match : Nitya (goalkeeper), AGORC Chennai
SS6 · 30 Aug — Indian Bank 2–3 Integral Coach Factory
ICF got off the mark, and did it the modern way — Pruthvi G. M. converting two penalty corners in a scrappy, whistle-heavy contest. Indian Bank scored twice and lost again.
Team | Scorers |
Indian Bank | Bilkan Oram (PC); B. Sathish (PC) |
Integral Coach Factory | Pruthvi G. M. (PC ×2); Dhanush (FG) |
Super Star of the match: Pruthvi G. M. (#2), Integral Coach Factory
SS7 · 31 Aug — Indian Bank 2–3 Sports Hostel of Excellence
A first-half burst — stroke, corner, field goal inside 20 minutes — settled it for the leaders. Indian Bank's reply came, as it keeps coming, too late. Three from three for Sports Hostel; three straight defeats for the champions.
Team | Scorers |
Indian Bank | Bilkan Oram (PC 17'); Stalin Abilash (FG 29') |
Sports Hostel of Excellence | V. Aravind (PS 6'); S. Krishnan (PC 9'); K. Srinivasan (FG 19') |
Super Star of the match: K. Srinivasan (#4), Sports Hostel of Excellence
The champions in freefall
Go back to Indian Bank. In the pool stage their defence conceded eight goals in five matches — the second-meanest in Pool A. In the Super Six they have shipped twelve in three.
The pattern barely changes: two goals in every match, and not one of them has been worth a point. Four of their six Super Six goals have come from penalty corners, the open-play threat that carried them last year all but switched off. Blown away by IOB, edged by ICF, undone early by Sports Hostel. The maths is now brutal — six points is the absolute ceiling, and they'd need to beat AGORC to get there. The holders are, for the moment, kings of nothing.
Southern Railway keep them company at the bottom, and their problem is the mirror image: Shanmugam P will score — three Super Six goals already — but the team has conceded nine in two and can't keep anyone out.
Golden Stick (all games, through SS7)
The award runs the length of the tournament — league stage and Super Six — and the Super Six has already flipped the top of it. S. Krishnan has overtaken Dilraj Singh into the lead. Players marked (season over) are from clubs that didn't reach the Super Six; their totals are fixed.
# | Player | Team | Total | League | Super Six | Breakdown |
1 | S. Krishnan | SHE | 12 | 7 | 5 | all 12 penalty corners |
2 | Dilraj Singh | IOB | 11 | 9 | 2 | 7 FG, 4 PS |
3 | Pruthvi G. M. | ICF | 9 | 7 | 2 | all 9 penalty corners |
4 | Chiran Medappa | AGS | 8 | 6 | 2 | 6 FG, 1 PC, 1 PS |
5 | Patras Tirkey | IOB | 7 | 4 | 3 | incl. 3 Super Six PCs |
6 | Shanmugam P | SRL | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 FG, 1 PC in Super Six |
6 | Nambi Ganesan | ITX (season over) | 6 | 6 | – | 1 FG, 4 PC, 1 PS |
8 | B. Sathish | IND | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 FG, 3 PC |
8 | Harjeet Singh | SRL | 5 | 5 | – | 5 goals |
8 | Thrishul Ganapathy | AGS | 5 | 5 | – | 5 PC |
8 | Y. Anand | FCI (season over) | 5 | 5 | – | 5 goals |
8 | Shahanul Shafas | PTM (season over) | 5 | 5 | – | 5 FG |
Also rising on Super Six form (league tally under 2): Deepak Pradhan (IOB), Suresh Babu (AGORC), Dhanush (ICF) and V. Aravind (SHE), all on 2 from these seven games.
The race: Krishnan leads on 12, every goal a drag-flick. Dilraj Singh is one back on 11 and still scoring. Pruthvi G. M. (9) is the only other man who can realistically reach them — and all three have Super Six matches left, so this one goes to the wire.
Star of the Match — SS1 to SS7
Match | Player | Club |
SS1 | Patras Tirkey (#24) | Indian Overseas Bank |
SS2 | S. Krishnan (#33) | Sports Hostel of Excellence |
SS3 | Suresh Babu (#7) | AGORC Chennai |
SS4 | Suraj (#30) | Southern Railway |
SS5 | Nitya | AGORC Chennai |
SS6 | Pruthvi G. M. (#2) | Integral Coach Factory |
SS7 | K. Srinivasan (#4) | Sports Hostel of Excellence |
Tally: Sports Hostel 2 · AGORC 2 · Indian Overseas Bank 1 · Southern Railway 1 · Integral Coach Factory 1. Two of the seven went to goalkeepers — a fair reflection of how much shot-stopping has mattered.
Predicting the top four
Everyone finishes on five matches. At the bottom the sums are already done: Indian Bank can reach six points at most, Southern Railway nine, and both would have to beat the sides above them to do it. The four in the knockout places today are the four most likely to finish there. The open questions are the order — and whether Integral Coach Factory or Southern Railway holds fourth.
Remaining fixtures
Match | Date | Fixture |
SS8 | 1 Sep | Southern Railway v AGORC |
SS9 | 2 Sep | Integral Coach Factory v Indian Overseas Bank |
SS10 | 2 Sep | AGORC v Indian Bank |
SS11 | 3 Sep | Sports Hostel v Indian Overseas Bank |
SS12 | 3 Sep | Southern Railway v Integral Coach Factory |
SS13 | 4 Sep | Southern Railway v Indian Bank |
SS14 | 5 Sep | Integral Coach Factory v Sports Hostel |
SS15 | 5 Sep | Indian Overseas Bank v AGORC |
1st — Sports Hostel of Excellence (8 pts; 2 to play: v IOB, v ICF)
Unbeaten all tournament, the best goal difference in the group, and the one team with a scoring routine you can set your watch by.
The run-in is the hardest of the four, but eight points banked means one more win almost certainly locks up first — and the shoot-out bonus is a tie-break already in the drawer. Projected: 1st, 11–12 pts.
2nd — Indian Overseas Bank (6 pts; 3 to play: v ICF, v SHE, v AGORC) Two from two, no defeats anywhere this season, and the most road left to travel.
The Tirkey–Dilraj–Pradhan penalty-corner unit is the most productive in the group. Beat Sports Hostel on 3 September and they top the table. Projected: 2nd, 12–15 pts — live for first.
3rd — AGORC Chennai (4 pts; 3 to play: v SRL, v IND, v IOB) Unbeaten without fuss — Chiran Medappa's range, Suresh Babu chipping in, and a keeper in Nitya who's already won them a shoot-out.
The next two, against the pointless teams, should be six. Projected: 3rd, 10–13 pts.
4th — Integral Coach Factory (3 pts; 3 to play: v IOB, v SRL, v SHE) The nervous one. Pruthvi G. M.'s flick and Dhanush's field craft give them goals; the defence keeps giving them away.
SS12 against Southern Railway is a straight shoot-out for fourth — win it, then steal something off IOB or SHE. Projected: 4th, 6–9 pts — the coin-flip.
On the bubble: Southern Railway would need to win all three, including against AGORC and ICF — Shanmugam P is capable of dragging them there, but −6 and no points is a deep hole.
Indian Bank are mathematically alive for fourth only if they win out and the results above collapse; a feeble chance for the defeding champions.
Confidence: Sports Hostel and Indian Overseas Bank in the top two — high. AGORC third — medium-high. Fourth place — low, and it probably turns on one match: Southern Railway v Integral Coach Factory, 3 September.
Follow the Action
📷 Instagram: @tamil_hockey_league
▶ Watch live & replays: i1 Sports on YouTube
more Stats and stories in https://www.hockeytiruvallur.com/tamil-hockey-league
Stadium entry is free for all. Tamil Hockey League 2026 — All for Hockey, Hockey for All. Presented by Rela Hospital · Live broadcast by i1 Sports · Organised by Hockey Tiruvallur.
Comments