Joginder Singh struck a brace for Raiways in a match full of twists and turns. | Photo: M. Vedhan
: Defending champion Indian Railways shut BPCL out of the 95th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup All-India hockey tournament here on Wednesday, in a match full of twists and turns.
With the 5-4 win over the former champion, Railways qualified for the knock-out (semifinals) with a match to spare. In its last Pool-A match on Thursday, Railways will take on Tamil Nadu. From Pool-A, Army is the other team that has made it to the last four, after it registered a 2-1 victory over Maharashtra.
There was hardly a dull moment in the tie between Railways and BPCL.
Leading 4-2 going into the fourth quarter, Railways held the edge. But BPCL wouldn’t go down without a fight as it forced three consecutive consecutive penalty corners at the beginning of the quarter. Railways, however, held firm.
BPCL continued to attack with gusto and equalised in a matter of three minutes through a brace from former International Devender Walmiki. Railways had the last laugh when Darshan Gawkar converted.
The semifinalists: Pool-A: Railways & Army; Pool B: IOC & Odisha.
The results:
Pool A: Indian Army 2 (Cyril Lugun 13, Akshay Dubey 41) bt Maharashtra 1 (Venkatesh Kenche 46).
Indian Railways 5 (Joginder Singh 9 & 35, Parampreet Singh 13, Gursahibjit Singh 28, Darshan Gawkar 58) bt BPCL 4 (Devindar Walmiki 3, 57 & 54, Rajinder Singh 14).
Pool B: Karnataka 6 (Ganesh Majji 4 & 19, Chelsea Madappa 22 & 30, Deekshith 11 & 35) bt Central Secretariat 1 (Karthi Selvam 47).
Published – September 25, 2024 09:29 pm IST
