KOLKATA: Indian Oil beat South Central Railway (SCR) 9-8 in the sudden-death to lift its maiden Beighton Cup hockey title on Tuesday.
In the final of the 114th edition of the tournament here at the SAI Eastern Centre the two teams were locked 2-2 at the end of the regulation and extra time. Even the tie-breaker could not spot the winner, with both the teams locked 4-4 missing an attempt each. Finally the deadlock was broken in the extended format of the penalty shootouts.
Indian Oil, whose best performance was finishing as the runner-up in 2003, rode on a quick attacking game to establish a comfortable 2-0 lead in the first session.
Hamza Mujtaba gave Indian Oil the lead in the 15th minute before Daharamvir Singh doubled the lead in the 22nd minute to complete the oilmen’s dominance in the first session.
In the second session SCR mounted a strong comeback and levelled the score with two goals in a span of five minutes. Amit Srivas reduced the margin in the 45th minute before Pawan Chengappa fired the equaliser.
The 15-minute extra time failed to break the tie enforcing the penalty shootouts. Turning out for Indian Oil, Arjun Antil, Rupinderpal Singh, Dharamvir and Gaurav Tokhi found the mark while Vikramjit Singh saw his shot saved by the SCR custodian R.K. Pfokrelo.
While Sunil Yadav, Innocent Kullu, Gursev Singh and Prabhakar Singh scored for SCR, former India custodian Devesh Chauhan saved the attempt of Belsajar Horo to keep Indian Oil’s hopes alive.
In the sudden-death Arjun Antil, Rupinderpal Singh and Gaurav Tokhi kept scoring for Indian Oil before Chauhan saved Gursev Singh’s attempt to ensure the title. Sunil Yadav and Innocent Kullu scored in the previous two attempts for SCR.
Lalit Upadhyay of Mumbai XI was named the best player of the tournament. SAI Training Centre received the fair-play trophy.