Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) scored a stunning 3-2 win against Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala in a hard-fought Pool-D 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 Thursday morning.
Sadiq Mohammad (8th minute), Raj Patil (12th minute) and Manjinder Singh (45th minute) scored a goal each for the Mumbai side while Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala scored through Hira Singh (4th minute) and Amit Kumar (40th minute).
MHAL who meet Uttar Pradesh XI in the concluding pool match on Friday top the pool and are assured of qualification to the quarter-finals irrespective of the outcome of this match. UP XI and RCF had drawn 2-2 in the earlier league match. UP only require a draw to advance to the next round.
Meanwhile, defending champions Indian Oil produced another slick performance and charged past Army XI 4-2 in a Pool-A league encounter. Armaan Qureshi and Bharat Chhikara scored a brace of goals for Indian Oil while Army XI fought back and scored through David Dung Dung and Gurpreet Singh. Indian Oil with two wins finished in first position ahead of Army XI who had defeated Bombay Republicans, the third team in the pool. Both Indian Oil and Army XI booked their place in the quarter-finals.
Earlier in a Pool-C match, Central Railway defeated Killedar XI 7-3 to record their first win and progress to the quarter-finals. South Central Railway who had beaten Central Railway 1-0 on Wednesday topped the pool and will meet Army XI in the last eight while Central Railway will take on Indian Oil.
Results – Pool-D: MHAL 3 (Sadiq Mohammad, Raj Patil, Manjinder Singh) beat Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala 2 (Hira Singh, Amit Kumar).
Pool-A: Indian Oil 4 (Armaan Qureshi 2, Bharat Ckhikara 2) beat Army XI 2 (David Dung Dung, Gurpreet Singh).
Pool-C: Central Railway 7 (Rajendra Pawar 3, Yuvraj Walmiki 3, Vikas Chaudhari) beat Killedar XI 3 (Aniket Sakpal 3).