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Navy edges TN in Murugappa opener
Indian Navy made a winning start to the 93rd MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup by edging Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 3-2 in the opener at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Thursday.

Chennai
Aakib A Rahim (15’), Kuldeep (17’) and TE Palangappa (43’) sounded the board for the winning side, while K Selva Raj (13’) and Joshva (39’) got on the scoresheet for the host in the Pool B contest. The visitor saw most of the ball in the first quarter, but against the run of play, Tamil Nadu opened the scoring in the 13th minute.
Navy goalkeeper B Sanjay made a save only for Selva to pounce on the rebound. The away team drew parity right at the stroke of the first hooter, thanks to a strike from Aakib. There was nothing to separate the sides after the opening 15 minutes. Navy started the second quarter on the front foot, earning successive penalty corners. Kuldeep converted the second in the 17th minute to give his team the lead. Courtesy his goal, the tourist had a slender one-goal advantage (2-1) at the break. After the restart, both sides had its fair share of chances to put the ball into the back of the net, but some poor finishing made sure the scoreline remained the same. Tamil Nadu’s Joshva bucked the trend in the 39th minute, scoring through a reverse hit from near the edge of the box. It took just four minutes for Navy to restore its one-goal cushion. Palangappa took advantage of a penalty corner in the 43rd minute, giving the away side a 3-2 lead going into the final quarter. Vinodhan had a good chance to equalise at the start of the last period, but scuffed it. Despite several attempts, Tamil Nadu could not find the third goal in the final stages and hence suffered defeat in its first match. The home side plays Railway Sports Promotion Board in its second group stage duel on Friday.
Comeback win for Bengaluru
Bengaluru Hockey Association posted a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Punjab National Bank in the second contest of the day. Trailing 1-2, Bengaluru scored three goals in the last two quarters to earn a positive result in its opening game. GN Pruthvi Raj (45’ and 49’) converted two penalty corners for the winning side.
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