International Dharamvir Singh fresh from his recent exploits in the World Hockey League (WHL) Final, with India finishing with a bronze medal, continued with his good showing as he notched up a fine hat-trick to power his employers Indian Oil to an easy 8-4 win against Mumbai Customs in a Pool-D match of the Dabang Mumbai – 50th All India Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament, at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
Indian Oil midfielder Bharat Chikara (orange) tries to get the ball from a Mumbai Customs defender, during a Pool-D league match.
Roshan Minz, captain Deepak Thakur and S.K. Uthappa chipped in with one each, while Gurjinder with some power-packed drag-flicks converted from two late penalty corners to round off the scoring tally. Customs managed to reduced the margin of defeat with Vikram Singh netted a brace and Harjeet Singh and Navneet Swarnakar scoring one apiece.
The star-studded Indian Oil outfit who were further bolstered by the presence of Dharamvir, Raghunath V.R. and Kothajit Singh, who were part of the Indian team in Raipur, enjoyed total domination against the Mumbai outfit who were totally a disjointed lot.
Indian Oil did not take long to open the scoring with Dharamvir striking in the very second minute and 10 minutes later add the second. Five minutes later Minz with a feeble attempt added the third and in the next minute Thakur from an easy tap scored the fourth goal. Dharamvir completed his hat-trick with a firm drive from the top of the circle in the final minute of the first half to give the oilmen a commanding 5-0 cushion.
After the change of ends, Indian Oil relaxed the pace which allowed their opponents to score four goals to avoid an embarrassing defeat. In the fourth minute on resumption Customs earned their first short corner which was successfully converted by Harjeet Singh with a strong drag-flick to the roof of the net giving substitute goalkeeper Baljeet Singh no chance.
Indian Oil scored their sixth goal through Uthappa in the 43rd minute before Vikram Singh scored two quick goals with 7 minutes to bridge the deficit for Customs. Swarnakar further reduce the gap hammering home the fourth in the 60th minute.
Indian Oil put the issue beyond the rivals when Gurjinder fired home two quick penalty corner in as many minutes to seal the win.
Later in a Pool-A match played under lights, Central Railway recovered from 1-2 half-time deficit to overcome Army XI 4-2. Centre forward Affan Yusuf scored two brilliant goals in the 15th and 63rd minutes. In between those two goals Yusuf’s teammates Narad Bahadur converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute and international Yuvraj Walmiki got the other in the 56th minute. The Army side scored their goals through Chandan Aind in the 25th minute and Pawal Lakra in the 33rd minute.
Results – Pool-A: Central Railway 4 (Affan Yusuf 15th, 63rd, Narad Bahadur 44th, Yuvraj Walmiki 56th) beat Army XI 2 (Chandan Aind 25th, Pawal Lakra 33rd).
Results – Pool-D: Indian Oil 8 (Dharamvir Singh 2nd, 12th, 35th, Roshan Minz 17th, Deepak Thakur 18th, S.K. Uthappa 43rd, Gurjinder Singh 65th, 66th) beat Mumbai Customs 4 (Harjeet Singh 39th, Vikram Singh 51st, 58th, Navneet Swarnakar 60).
Tommorrow’s matches, 2.00 pm: Indian Navy vs Western Railway; 4.00 pm : CAG vs Air India