Air India beat BPCL to win Gold Cup
BHOPAL: India striker Shivendra Singh struck twice to help Air India thrash BPCL 5-0 and clinch All-India Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup hockey title at the Aishbagh Stadium.
Besides Shivendra (51st and 66th minute), Olympian veteran Dhanraj Pillay (46th), skipper Sameer Dad (36th) and Lalit Upadhyay (14th) were the other scorers yesterday.
During the breather, Air India led 1-0, after Lalit in the 14th minute capitalised on a pass off Pillay, who defied his age to produce some fine passes during the match.
In the second half, Air India continued with their aggressive strategy and swelled the tally further.
Local lad Sameer scored in the 36th minute connecting to a brilliant pass off Shivendra, before Dhanraj rounded of the tally in 46th minute redirecting a fine pass off Sameer.
Air India got four penalty corners while BPCL two but both failed to capitalise on them. Air India goalkeeper Adrian D’souza thwarted three attempts.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan awarded cash prize of Rs 5 lakhs and a golden trophy to the winner of the tournament, while BPCL got Rs 3 lakhs and the runner-up trophy.
Chouhan also presented a cheque of Rs 18 lakhs to the Indian players who played at the Hockey World Cup in New Delhi.
“Hockey is the national game and we will make all the efforts to ensure that India become number one in the game,” Chouhan said.
Earlier, Indian Oil Corporation clinched the third place in the tournament defeating Punjab and Sindh Bank 2-0.