Raghunath of Indian Oil Corporation scores towards Indian Navy through the 94th All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey on the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, 26/08/2023.
| Photo Credit: VEDHAN M
Comprising three former Olympians and a host of former Internationals, a star-studded Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) overcame a spirited fightback from Indian Navy to prevail 4-2 in a Group-A match of the 94th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup All-India hockey match right here on Saturday.
Earlier, in one other Pool-A contest, Hockey Karnataka put it throughout Central Secretariat 2-1 whereas Punjab National Bank (PNB) edged out Indian Army by the identical margin in a Group-B tie.
Navy appeared a assured and coordinated unit and matched the defending champion in assault and defence. Every time, IOC went forward it got here again strongly to neutralise the scores.
Arshdeep Singh, left, of IOC and Ok.T. Cariappa of Indian Navy in motion through the 94th All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey on the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, 26/08/2023.
| Photo Credit:
VEDHAN M
At 2-2, IOC confirmed why it’s a champion aspect. In a intelligent penalty nook transfer, Gurjinder Singh, as an alternative of going for a direct shot, handed it to Affan Yousuf, who positioned himself on the correct aspect of the ‘keeper. Without batting an eyelid, the striker flicked it residence, a transfer that flummoxed the ‘keeper Sanjay.
The Navy continued to place the IOC defence beneath immense stress making a number of raids. IOC, nevertheless, had the final chuckle by way of Roshan Minz, a former International, when he pushed one from shut vary in a fast counterattack.
Sumit Kumar, left, of IOC and Rohit Kumar of Indian Navy in motion through the 94th All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey on the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, 26/08/2023.
| Photo Credit:
VEDHAN M
Central Secretariat suffered its second successive defeat when it misplaced to Hockey Karnataka in a drab match that noticed each groups miss many gilt-edged possibilities. Similarly, PNB, trying a pale shadow of its former self, because it fluffed many possibilities, however managed to script a victory over Army.
The outcomes: Hockey Karnataka 2 (Thrishul Ganapathi, Pranam Gowda) bt Central Secretariat 1 (Mohd. Shariq); PNB 2 (Gursimran Singh, Sachin) bt Indian Army 1 (Rajant); IOC 4 (Arshdeep Singh, V. R. Raghunath, Affan Yousuf, Roshan Minz) bt Indian Navy 2 (Sushil Dhanwar, Ok. Selvaraj).