Pune, Mar 8: A spirited Bhopal Badshahs held Pune Strykers to a 1-1 draw in their fourth match of the World Series Hockey 2012 (WSH) tournament here on Wednesday.

Pune Strykers, with two wins and a draw so far in the tournament, were clearly the better side and they scored through Gurpreet Singh (27th minute), who moved to the top of the list of top-scorers with eight goals.

For Bhopal Badshahs, Affan Yousuf (66th) sounded the board through a field goal.

Pune were the more dominant side as they had better ball possession and circle penetration, leaving the Badshahs to do the catch-up job throughout the first and second quarters.

After a goalless first quarter, Gurpreet converted a penalty corner which his side earned nine minutes into the quarter.

Mario Nicolas Almada was in the thick of action for most of the time for Pune.

Bhopal, who had two victories and one loss, looked a better side in the second half and created more chances.

The Badshahs finally brought up the equaliser through Affan Yousuf just four minutes before the final hooter through a field goal.

Delhi Wizards down Sher-e-Punjab 2-1

In Jalandhar, Delhi Wizards came from a goal down to beat Sher-e-Punjab 2-1 and end their two-match losing streak on Wednesday.

After beating Karnataka Lions in the opening match, the Wizards lost to Pune Strykers and Chennai Cheetahs in the eight-team city-based league. The win over Punjab on Wednesday took Delhi's points tally to six from four matches.

The Wizards had to toil hard for the win as Punjab took the lead in the second quarter through Australian Matthew Hotchkis (22nd minute).

Trailing 0-1 at the half time, the Wizards came out a detremined lot after the resumption of play and scored two field goals in the third and fourth quarters through Manoj Antil (40th minute) and Gurvinder Singh (63rd) to pocket their second win of the tournament that has not been sanctioned by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

For Sher-e-Punjab it is their first defeat from four outings in the tournament. The Jalandhar-based side has defeated Chennai Cheetahs and Karnataka Lions before drawing 3-3 with Pune Strykers in their previous encounters.

Sher-e-Punjab will next face Chandigarh Comets in an away match on Thursday, while the Wizards will take on Bhopal Badshahs in Bhopal on Friday.

Today's Matches (March 8)

7.00 pm Chandigarh Comets vs Sher-e-Punjab (Chandigarh)

9.00 pm Karnataka Lions vs Mumbai Marines (Bangalore)

PTI