MUMBAI: Air-India was stretched by Central Railway before winning 4-2 in league action in the 9th all-India Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup hockey, sponsored by Punjab & Maharashtra Co-op Bank Ltd. and played at the Mahindra stadium.
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation sneaked past Western Railway 4-3 in another pulsating tie.
Drag flick specialist Len Aiyappa fired in three goals for Air-India, Taranjit Singh scored a field goal following a move initiated by Dhanraj Pillay.
Central fought back after the breather, responding with two goals. Navneet Swarnakar scored with an indirect short corner conversion, followed by Amit Singh’s stunning reverse hit from D top of the D which left goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh dazed.
The results: ONGC 4 (Harman Singh, Jayanta 2, Karamjeet Singh) bt Western Railway 3 (Jaykaran, Amarjeet Singh, C. Kumar).
Air-India 4 (Len Aiyappa 3, Taranjit Singh) bt Central Railway 2 (Navneet Swarnakar, Amit Singh). — Special Correspondent