The Hindu: Railways, PNB begin favourites
By K. Keerthivasan
Bengaluru HA the surprise package
Indian Railways and Punjab National Bank (PNB) literally toyed with their opponents in the group stage of the 91st MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup all-India hockey tournament.
The two have scored 17 and 18 goals each while conceding just five each. Going by form, it would only be fair to pick Railways and PNB as the favourites to reach the final.
The semifinals, to be held on Saturday, will see the former take on ONGC and the latter, Bengaluru HA.
The surprise package has been Bengaluru. Assembled just a few days before the tournament, chief coach Ashish Ballal has done wonders with the squad.
Fighting win
After the thrashing at the hands of Railways, Bengaluru picked itself up with a fighting win over BPCL followed by a convincing win over PSB.
The question is can penalty corner specialist V. R. Raghunath produce his magic yet again to overcome PNB?