Five-star performance by BPCL

The BPCL thrashed Indian Oversees Bank 5-0 to reach the semifinal of the Aga Khan hockey tournament at the Bombay Gymkhana, here on Tuesday.

Both the squads had an addition to their squad as Rupinder Singh of IOB and Ravipal Singh of BPCL returned from national duty to take their places in the sides.

BPCL got off the tracks quickly and the IOB goalie KH Shan had to make a number of saves. It was the 13th minute in which IOB finally pierced the BPCL circle and this attack yielded them a penalty corner. Rupinder Singh, who scored six goals in the Azlan Shah, managed only a weak pass that was easily dealt with.

The Banglore side’s pressure paid off as Birender Lakra found himself free with the defenders occupied with other attackers on the other side of the post. A pinpoint through ball was followed by a powerful shot by Lakra that got past Shan.

IOB increased the pressure on them in the second half but BPCL dealt with the attack with ease and counter attacked. In one such reversal, they won a penalty corner and a superb dummy by skipper Ajay Saroha left Gurpreet Singh with just the keeper to beat in the 42nd minute. He doubled the lead with a powerful drive into the bottom corner.

BPCL sealed the game late on when Jarnail Singh trapped a pass from the half line into the circle and finished with a diving reverse hit in the 58th minute. They made it a complete rout when Jarnail Singh another in the very next minute. Amar Aiyama scored just before the final whistle to make it 5-0.

The tournament lasted only one match for Rupinder, who was unable to use his drag-flicks on grass. “It is very difficult to stop the ball and drag it on this surface,” he said.

The 21-year-old was not pleased with his own and the collective defensive performance in the game. He said, “When you have conceded so many goals it’s evident that the defense has been bad.”

About his performance in the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia, the tall defender said, “It was a disappointing campaign on the whole but being the joint top-scorer of the tournament was quite pleasing on a personal level.”

Earlier, captain Deepak Thakur leading by example scored a brilliant hat-trick to help Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) rally brilliantly to overcome Karnataka XI 4-3 in their quarterfinal match.

In another match, Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala scored a well-deserved 4-2 win against outfit Bandra Select in a first round match. The winners enjoyed a narrow 1-0 lead at the end of the first half.

The highlight of the Kapurthala side’s win was the two goals scored by Roop Singh in a space on nine minutes. His first goal in the 40th minute and added the second in the 49th minute. Deepak and Ranjod Singh got the other two goals for the Punjab team. Peter Fernandez and Saad Pathan wala were on target for the Bandra lads.