Holder Air India (Mumbai) overcame a strong challenge from South Central Railway (Secunderabad) by a solitary goal to brighten its semifinal chances in the 117th all-India Beighton Cup hockey tournament at the SAI Eastern Centre on Monday.
Joga Singh fetched the only goal of the match in the 12th minute to ensure full points for Air India. The team now has six points from two successive wins and leads the Group ‘B’ table.
In a Group ‘A’ game held at the same venue, Punjab National Bank (Delhi) picked up its second successive win downing Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala) 5-2.
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Ajitesh Roy scored thrice while Hardeep Singh and Ranjit Singh accounted for one each for PNB, which also tallied six points from two wins to remain on top of its group.
Karanpreet Singh and Sunder Singh reduced the margin for RCF.
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Air India 1 (Joga Singh) bt South Central Railway 0; Punjab National Bank 5 (Ajitesh Roy 3, Hardeep Singh, Ranjit Singh) bt RCF (Kapurthala) 2 (Karanpreet Singh, Sunder Singh).