J Joshua Wesley scores TN?s first goal in MCC-Murugappa Hockey Tournament (Photo: Justin George) 
Sports

Air India hold Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu were held to a 2-2 draw by Air India in the inaugural match of the 90th all-India Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey tournament at the MRK Stadium here on Thursday evening.

migrator

Chennai

Joshua Wesley (17th minute) and Hassan Basha (56th minute) scored for the hosts while Osaf-ur-Reham (30th) and Gagandeep Singh (58th) restored parity for Air India. 

Air India started the match on a brisk note with veteran Arjun Halappa displaying brilliance with his dribbling skills. 

Tamil Nadu drew first blood when Wesley latched on a to a pass inside the ‘D’ and beat the goalkeeper with a rasping drive. Air India could have equalised soon but Halappa’s shot was thwarted by an agile Tamil Nadu custodian M Arun Prasadh. 

Air India were back on level terms by the half-hour mark when Maninderjeet Singh set up Rehman from the right flank. Rehman found the board with a scorching shot. 

Tamil Nadu showed more purpose in the second half with V Veera Tamizhan and P Nambi Ganesh and Shanmugham being the show stoppers. However, poor finishing prevented them from scoring the winner. 

Tamil Nadu got their second goal when Basha latched on to a rebound from Air India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh. Minutes later, Air India equalised with Gagandeep scoring off a penalty corner. The hosts could have got the winner in the dying minutes but S Silver Stalin directed the ball way above the net to end the match at 2-2.

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