HOCKEY | Air Force rides on Kerketta’s hat-trick to beat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu

Manip Kerketta of Indian Air Force celebrates after scoring against Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu during the 94th All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Friday, August 25, 2023.
| Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN

Manip Kerketta’s hat-trick ensured Indian Air Force 4-3 victory over Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN) in a Group-B match of the 94th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup all-India hockey here on Friday.

Earlier, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) played a perfect all-round game to outclass Punjab National Bank (PNB), the last edition’s (2019) finalist, 6-2 in another Group-B match. Hockey Karnataka held former champion Indian Railways 1-1 in a Group-A contest.

Air Force clearly appeared the better team in the first two quarters. The host showed its fighting character in the third and fourth quarters. Trailing 4-2, HUTN pulled one back through Aravind in the fourth quarter.

Attacking relentlessly and with seconds remaining for the hooter, HUTN had its last chance to equalise when it received a penalty corner. However, Air Force custodian Ponnanna produced a brilliant save by diving to his right to thwart a fierce drive by Y. Anand.

After a tame draw the other day against HUTN, CAG came with a set plan and executed it really well. No doubt, it was the much organised team throughout against a stronger opponent. From defending exceptionally well to being racy in counter-attacks, CAG rattled PNB no end.

Full credit to Karnataka for pulling off a draw against the mighty Railways. More than the forwardline, it was Karnataka’s defence that proved rock-solid against a reputed set of forwards.

The results: CAG 6 (Abharan Sudev, Manish Yadav, Parvinder Singh, Jay Prakash Patel, Veerathamizhan 2) bt PNB 2 (Bhagat Singh Dhillon 2); Indian Railways 1 (Pratap Lakra) drew with Hockey Karnataka 1 (S. V. Sunil); Indian Air Force 4 (Manip Kerketta 3, Lovedeep Singh) bt HUTN 3 (Y. Anand, S. Mareeswaran, V. Aravind).