Defending champions Army XI, Delhi recovered for a 0-2 deficit to overcome Western Railway, Mumbai 6-4 in a high-scoring Pool-A league match of the 11th PMC Bank-Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament, being organised by the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) and played at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate on Sunday. Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PCM) Bank is the sponsors of this tournament, which is being organised under the auspices of Hockey India.
Western took off on the right track and from their first foray into the rival territory forged ahead through Vinod Kumar in the second minute. Twenty minutes later, the local railway outfit doubled the lead through a snap goal by Amit Rohidas.
However, it did not take the Army side to bounce back as they made a solid, strong reply and got their first goal through centre-forward Chandan Aind. Having tasted blood, the Army side struck two more goals in quick succession through Anoop Topno (27th minute) and B.K. Milan (28th minute) to snatch the lead. The charged up Army side started the second half on a stronger note and scored three goals in a span of five minutes to take complete control of the match. Gurpreet Singh (40th), Binay Bhengra (44th) and Aind (45th) were bang on target. Western Railway managed to reduce the margin of defeat with Jaykaran (55th) and Vinod Kumar (56th) striking the goals.
In the first match of the day, ONGC (Oil & Natural Gas Corporation) staged a solid fight back to put it across BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited) by a close 3-2 margin. ONGC with an all-win record have 12 points and have qualified for the semi-finals from this pool. The second place will be decided after the outcome of the match between Army XI (6 points) and BPCL (3 points). Army XI and BPCL have an identical goal-difference and the former only require a draw while BPCL, require a win at all cost to qualify ahead of Army XI.
Earlier, Air India, Delhi rallied to beat South Central Railway 2-1 in a Pool-B league match. After a barren first half, the southern outfit broke the deadlock when Mohd Aleem scored a field goal in the 39th minute. But their joy was short-lived as Air India captain Shivendra Singh netted the equaliser also through a field goal in the very next minute before teammate Sumit Topo struck the winner in the 61st minute.
Air India, who have 9 points from 3 games are now virtually assured of a berth in the semi-finals from this pool. Central Railway (6 points) and Indian Oil (4 points) are in contention of joining Air India in the next round. In the concluding round of pool matches on Monday, Central take on South Central Railway (1 point) and Indian Oil meet Air India.
Results – Pool-A: ONGC 3 (Diwakar Ram 53rd-pc, 56th-pc, Sumit Kumar 66th) beat BPCL 2 (Hari Prasad 10th, Harmeet Singh 32nd).
Army XI 6 (Chandan Aind 23rd, 45th, Anoop Topno 27th, B.K. Milan 28th, Gurpreet Singh 40th, Binay Bhengra 44th) beat Western Railway 4 (Vinod Kumar 2nd, 56th, Amit Rohidas 22nd, Jaykaran 55th).
Pool-B: Air India 2 (Shivendra Singh 40th, Sumit Topo 61st) beat South Central Railway 1 (Mohd Aleem 39th).
Monday fixtures
1.00 pm: South Central Railway vs South Central Railway (Pool-B).
3.00 pm: BPCL vs Army XI (Pool-A).
5.00 pm: Air India vs Indian Oil (Pool-B).