Gold Cup hockey tournament: BPCL defeat PNB
BHOPAL: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) defeated Punjab National Bank 3-2 in the opening match of the prestigious All-India Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup Hockey tournament at the Aishbagh Stadium.
Mid-fielder Birendra Lakra of BPCL was declared the man-of-the-match for making excellent moves that produced two field goals for his team.
Gurvinder scored the first goal in the match for the PNB in the 23rd minute but the lead was short-lived as BPCL launched fierce attack and ripped apart the defence of the opposition side by scoring three goals within three minutes.
For BPCL, Gurpreet Singh sounded the scoreboard through a penalty stroke in the 25th minute and equalised the score 1-1. Later, Tushar Khandekar and Hari Prasad scored two field goals in 26th and 27th minutes respectively to make the scorline read 3-1.
However, in the second half, the PNB team played an attacking game and reduced the margin as Bruno scored another goal in the 48th minute.
A total of 13 teams from across the country are taking part in the tournament, which is being held after a gap of eight years.
The week-long tournament, which is being organised this time by the Madhya Pradesh Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare, will end on March 29.
Apart from BPCL and PNB, the other teams which are vying in the competition are ONGC, Air India, Indian Oil, Punjab and Sindh Bank, Indian Army, South Estern Central Railway (Bilaspur), West Central Railway, SAI XI, South Central Railway, Madhya Pradesh State Hockey Academy and SAIL.
A number of international players including Indian National Men’s Hockey team captain Rajpal Singh, Deepak Thakur, Diwakar Ram, Arjun Halappa, Shivendra Singh, Vikram Pillay, Tushar Khandekar, William Khalko, S S Gill and Prabhjot Singh are participating in the tournament that was first held way back in 1931.
Local stars who will form part of the tournament include Olympian Sameer Dad, Irshad Ali, Imram Ali and Altaf-ur Rehman.