CHENNAI: Central Secretariat (CS) stunned Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) 6-2 in a Pool A match of the 94th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey tournament 2023 on Thursday and sent them out of the championship.
Skipper and goalkeeper P Naveen Kumar was one of the stars for Central Secretariat as he came up with numerous saves, denying the IOC players on several occasions as they looked to play aggressively to counter the CS defence. After conceding a goal in the 4th minute, CS stepped up the pace and led 2-1 at the end of two quarters.
Gurjinder Singh opened the scoring for IOC with a strike from a penalty corner. Their opponents bounced back with two goals in the 20th and 24th minutes through Hassan Basha and R Manikandan. Early in the second half, CS increased the lead to 3-1 when Mohd Umar beat the opposition goalkeeper.
Gurjinder scored from a penalty corner to reduce the scoreline in the 36th minute.
Two more goals by CS in the 40th and 51st minutes ensured that they secured a superb win over a star-studded opponent. The result meant that the IOC failed to make it to the semi-finals.
In another match, Indian Army Red thumped Indian Air Force 6-0 in Pool B with Sumeet Pal Singh scoring three goals while Harman Singh got a brace. Manish Rajbhar rounded off the tally with one goal. The thumping victory for the Army team ensured a spot in the knockout stage of the tournament.
Match schedule: Saturday, September 2, 2023
1st Semi-final at 4:00 P.M. – (POOL A) Indian Railways (RSPB) vs (POOL B) Punjab National Bank (PNB)
2nd Semi-final at 6:00 P.M. – (POOL B) Indian Army Red (IAR) vs (POOL A) Hockey Karnataka (KAR).