Hindustan Times: BPCL trumps Railways to win Obaidullah Khan cup

BPCL won the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup in Bhopal on Wednesday. In the final, BPCL trounced Railways in penalty shoot-out. BPCL received a cheque of Rs 51 lakh as prize money while runners’ up Railways received Rs 21 lakh.

Former Olympian Tushar Khandekar of BPCL was declared as player of the tournament. Air India’s player Gurpreet Singh was awarded as best goal keeper, Manpreet Singh of BPCL as best defender, Chinglensana of Railways as best midfielder and Affan Yousuf of Railways as best forward player.

In the match for third place, Air India defeated ONGC. Air India was awarded prize money of Rs 11 lakh and ONGC received Rs 5 lakh.

In the final match, Amit Rohidas of Railways scored the goal for the team by converting penalty corner in the second half which was leveled by BPCL player Tushar Khandekar within seven minutes. Both the team fought hard to score the winning goal but the match ended by penalty shootout.

On the concluding ceremony, Hockey India president Narinder Batra, sports minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia, former Olympian Jalaluddin Rizvi, Aslam Sher Khan and director sports Upendra Jain were present on the occasion.
After winning the match, Tushar Khandekar said it’s was great to play Obaidullah Cup. “We have implemented all the strategies perfectly. Our goal keeper Swinder Singh showed good performance.”

Talking to media person, sports minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia said we would try to increase the prize money of Scindia Gold Cup like Obaidullah.

She also said, “Being a woman sports minister, I will organise hockey tournament for girls too.”
On the last day, a large number of spectators reached stadium to enjoy the match.

Batra also appreciated the tournament. He said, “This is very good tournament and we will try to take it to the international level.” When asked about performance of men’s and women’s hockey team in the Olympics, Batra said “I am satisfied with the performance of both teams.”

Suicide threat

In the second half of the final match, a mentally unstable hockey fan stood outside the railing of the commentator box and threatened to jump from there. The boy, Shiraz, is the son of a former hockey player and hockey India official. He was lured with food and `500 to come back but he kept refusing. After half an hour, he was convinced and came out. His family members said he was mentally unstable.