ONGC moves into semifinal

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Delhi, overcame spirited Bombay Engineering Group, Pune, 3-0 with a solid display in the quarterfinals of the DCB Aga Khan hockey tournament 2011, being held at the Bombay Gymkhana grass turf.

Captain Bikash Toppo (two) and Diwakar Ram were on target for the winners. ONGC snatched the lead four minutes after start, a passing bout down the middle opened up the rival defence and captain Toppo finished off the move in style. BEG counter-attack but fell short in finishing.

Toppo’s speedy runs down the left channel were effective; the forward capped a swift move with the second goal in the 25th minute. Diwakar Ram converted a penalty corner for the third goal, as ONGC asserted supremacy fielding Olympian Harpal Singh, international Diwakar, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Pramod Kumar.

Earlier, South Central Railway, Chennai, ushered out an exhausted Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, 4-1 to claim a semifinal berth. Two goals from K K Bharat, one each from N Ramesh and Poonacha helped SCR. Gurvinder Singh scored the consolation goal for RCF. The Kapurthala side, playing consecutive matches for the third day, appeared exhausted due to humid conditions. Bharat netted a cross from the right flank by Poonacha for the first SCR goal in the seventh minute.

Gurvinder sparked life into RCF efforts with an equaliser eight minutes later, trapping a forward pass from Deepak and beating custodian P Fokrelo. Two swift strikes from SCR sealed the match. Captain N Ramesh was on target with an indirect penalty corner variation. Poonacha caught the rival defence by surprise with a diving effort to connect a cross from Prabhakar Singh down the left flank.

SCR offensive continued with a timely release from Amit Srivas, whose through pass picked up Bharat inside the circle and the forward diverted the ball past RCF goalkeeper Jaswinder Singh for the fourth goal, confirming a semifinal place. The tournament concludes on Saturday with the final.