Chennai: After what could be described only as a neck-and-neck contest, defending champions Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) team emerged victorious in the finals of the 89thAll India MCC Murugappa Hockey Tournament, beating past-title-holder Army XI, with a final score of 3-2, and retained the heard-earned title of the Champions of the 89th MCC Murugappa Hockey Tournament in Chennai today.

The match seemed to be a fight among equals right up to the half-time, after which the competition got hotter by the minute. The final few minutes saw frantic attempts by both teams to firm up their positions in the match. With the aplomb shown in the earlier matches too, the IOC skipper Deepak Thakur led the team from the front, finally guiding the team to victory.

As the winning team, Indian Oil Corporation takes home the prize money of Rs 5.00 lakhs, and the runner-up team Army XI receives Rs 2.50 lakhs. (This year’s tournament prize amount was increased from the earlier sums of Rs 2.50 lakhs and Rs 1.50 lakhs respectively).

In addition to the above team prizes, the following individual awards were also given away to the top performing players. Each of these players were given a high-end bicycle from TI Cycles, a holiday voucher from www.parryyatra.com and a cash prize of Rs 10,000:-