Uttar Pradesh XI rallied from an early setback to overcome Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) XI 3-1 in a concluding 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 Friday afternoon.
MHAL playmaker Osaf Ur Rehman rocked the Uttar Pradesh citadel with a strike in the very second minute. But, the UP side fought back and restored parity through Mehkeet Singh’s penalty corner conversion in the 14th minute. Later, Deepak Yadav scored two goals, the first from a field effort in the 45th minute and the second through a penalty corner in the 51st minute.
UP finished on top of the pool with four points while MHAL with three points were second and both progressed to the quarter-finals. RCF, Kapurthala with one point, the third team in the pool, bowed out.
Later in the evening, last year’s runners-up Bharat Petroleum and Punjab and Sind Bank played out a 1-1 draw. BPCL took the lead through skipper Sher Singh goal in the 28th minute before Punjab & Sind Bank scored the equalizer through Navdeep Singh in the 37th minute.
Both, BPCL and Punjab and Sind Bank qualified for the quarter-finals.
In Saturday’s first quarter-final, Indian Oil take on Central Railway at 2.30 pm, and Army XI meet South Central Railway in the second match at 4.15 pm.
In Sunday’s quarter-finals, MHAL XI face off against Punjab and Sind Bank at 2.30pm followed by the match between BPCL and UP XI.
Results – Pool-D: Uttar Pradesh XI 3 (Deepak Yadav 2, Mehkeet Singh) beat MHAL 1 (Osaf Urr Rehman).
Pool-C: Bharat Petroleum 1 (Sher Singh) drew with Punjab & Sind Bank 1 (Navdeep Singh).