IOC, ONGC to clash in Murugappa Hockey final

CHENNAI: Former champions Indian Oil Corporation are just a step away from regaining the title as they clash with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in the final of 86th All India MCC-Murugappa Hockey tournament on Sunday.

In their respective semifinals on Saturday, IOC, boasting of several India international players, defeated Indian Railways 4-2 making good use of defence lapses, while ONGC got the better of Punjab National Bank 3-2.

Both the matches witnessed players protesting umpire’s decisions.

Goals from India stars Roshan Minz (1st), Deepak Thakur (50th), Prabhjot Singh (53rd) and Ramachandra Raghunath (61st) found the target for IOC while for the Railways, hardworking pair of Chengappa (41st) and Md Abdul Aleem (48th) were the scorers.

The match was held up briefly when Railway players vehemently protested the equaliser (2-2) after Thakur scored of a rebound off goalkeeper Suraj Kanta. The ball bounced back into play when Kanta blocked Prabhjot Singh’s try.

The first semifinal witnessed much more frequent attempts by Punjab National Bank players against ONGC, who scored through Balwinder Singh (18th), Gurwinder Singh (47th) and Jagwant Singh (55th). The bankmen scored through Ranjit Singh (13th) and Bruno Lugun (52nd).