Kusum Arora
Tribune News Service
Bharat Petroleum Mumbai clinched the title of 26th Indian Oil Surjit Hockey Tournament by defeating rivals Indian Oil Mumbai 3-2 during the finals held at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium today.
Bharat Petroleum dominated the proceedings right from the word go. The Bharat Petroluem mounted pressure and earned first penalty corner in the very first minute when their drag flicker Gurpreet Singh took the lead 1-0. Indian Oil consolidated their lead within two minutes when Deedar Singh scored from a penalty corner conversion.
Earlier the Bharat Petroleum wasted a penalty corner in the 20th minute. In the 23rd minute Indian Oil wasted the third penalty corner. At half time both teams were leveled at 1-1.
In the second half of the match, both teams made some good attempts but failed to capitalise on the opportunities. In the 46th minute, BPCL earned the third penalty corner but Gurpreet Singh wasted the chance.
In the 48th minute of the play, Deedar Singh converted the fourth penalty corner for Indian Oil. In the 66th minute, the equaliser came from the stick of Bharat Petroleum’s Pundalik Bellary from left flank steering the score to 2-2. The winning goal came from the stick of Gurpreet Singh in the 68th minute for Bharat petroleum from penalty corner conversion.
Deputy Chief Minister Punjab Sukhbir Badal awarded the winners with a cash prize of Rs 2.50 lakh while the runners up were given Rs 1.50 Lakh.