HOCKEY | Indian Oil Corporation weathers a fighback from Indian Navy before prevailing

Raghunath of Indian Oil Corporation scores against Indian Navy during the 94th All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey at 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 tournament here on Saturday.

Earlier, in another Pool-A contest, Hockey Karnataka put it across Central Secretariat 2-1 while Punjab National Bank (PNB) edged out Indian Army by the same margin in a Group-B tie.

Navy appeared a confident and coordinated unit and matched the defending champion in attack and defence. Every time, IOC went ahead it came back strongly to neutralise the scores.

Arshdeep Singh, left, of IOC and K.T. Cariappa of Indian Navy in action during the 94th All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, 26/08/2023.
| Photo Credit:
VEDHAN M

At 2-2, IOC showed why it’s a champion side. In a clever penalty corner move, Gurjinder Singh, instead of going for a direct shot, passed it to Affan Yousuf, who placed himself on the right side of the ‘keeper. Without batting an eyelid, the striker flicked it home, a move that flummoxed the ‘keeper Sanjay.

The Navy continued to put the IOC defence under immense pressure making several raids. IOC, however, had the last laugh through Roshan Minz, a former International, when he pushed one from close range in a quick counterattack.

Sumit Kumar, left, of IOC and Rohit Kumar of Indian Navy in action during the 94th All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, 26/08/2023.
| Photo Credit:
VEDHAN M

Central Secretariat suffered its second successive defeat when it lost to Hockey Karnataka in a drab match that saw both teams miss many gilt-edged chances. Similarly, PNB, looking a pale shadow of its former self, as it fluffed many chances, but managed to script a victory over Army.

The results: 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, K. Selvaraj).