Indian Railways produced a masterful display in its 7-2 win over ONGC in a Pool-B contest of the all-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament here on Tuesday.
With six points in the kitty and a match to go against Karnataka, Railways is in a strong position to qualify for the last four.
Tushar Khandekar’s last-minute strike enabled BPCL drew with defending champion Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) 1-1 in a Pool-A match later.
Though both BPCL and IOC have a match remaining against Tamil Nadu and Mumbai respectively, for all practical purposes, they have qualified for the semifinals.
The day clearly belonged to Railways. Talwinder Singh hit one into the top of the roof. Then, J.P. Kush dribbled his way into the circle to make it 2-0 for Railways.
ONGC immediately pulled one back after Gurjinder Singh scored off a cross by Jagwanth Singh from the right.
In the second half, a resurgent ONGC made some eye-catching raids. On both occasions, the Railways’ keeper Jagraj Singh proved equal to the task.
ONGC’s good work was rewarded when Diwaker Ram converted one off a penalty corner. With the scores tied at 2-2, both teams played hard.
The match was evenly poised even after Railways’ Amit Rohidas converted a penalty corner for a 3-2 lead in the 58th minute. What happened in the remaining 11 minutes was unbelievable as the National champion converted four more goals that made ONGC look so pedestrian.
Mid-field tussleThe BPCL-IOC match was more of a midfield tussle in the first half. In the second half, Prabhjot Singh gave the lead for IOC before Tushar equalised.
The results:
Pool-A: IOC 1 (Prabhjot Singh 42) drew with BPCL 1 (Tushar Khandekar 69).
Pool-B: Indian Railways 7 (Talwinder Singh 14, J.P. Kush 21, Amit Rohidas 58, Affan Yousuf 64, 67, Malak Singh 66, Raju Paul 69) bt ONGC 2 (Gurjinder Singh 26, Diwaker Ram 46).
Monday’s results: Pool A: BPCL 3 (S.V. Sunil 29 & 24, Sher Singh 66) bt Air India 0; HUT 3 (Veera Thamizhan 17, Hassan Basha 61, Judson Gabriel George 65) bt Mumbai HA 2 (Jugraj Singh 26 & 41).
