Last year’s runners-up Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) warmed up nicely for the stiffer challengers ahead as they eased past Union Bank of India by a convincing 4-2 margin in a Pool-C league match of the 53rd All India Bombay Gold Cup hockey championship 2019, organized by the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) and played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate on Tuesday.
BPCL took the lead through Abharan Sudev’s penalty corner conversion in the first quarter before Union Bank restored parity in the second quarter through captain Anurag Sharma’s efforts to go into the break tied at 1-all.
After switching sides BPCL struck two goals in the third quarter with Sudev (36th minute) and Shivam Anand (45th minute) finding the target from field efforts to give the team a 3-1 lead.
The oilmen extended their lead when Rabichandran Moirangthem (50th minute) scored from another field effort before Vinod Saini converted from a short corner to help Union Bank cut the margin of defeat.
Later in the evening, Uttar Pradesh XI having reached Mumbai late last night showed no signs of tiredness as they fought back to share honours with Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala in a 2-2 draw in a Pool-D match.
The Kapurthala side scored two goals through Baljeet Singh and Sanklap Singh to enjoy a 2-0 lead. But, Uttar Pradesh who wasted chances galore managed to find the mark with Faiz Sarwan and Atul Deep striking a goal each.
Results – Pool-C: Bharat Petroleum, Mumbai 4 (Abharan Sudev 2, Shivam Anand, Rabichandran Moirangthem) beat Union Bank of India, Mumbai 2 (Anurag Sharma, Vinod Saini).
Pool-D: Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala 2 (Baljeet Singh, Sanklap Singh) drew with Uttar Pradesh XI 2 (Faiz Sarwan, Atul Deep).