Bhopal: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) defeated Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), while Air India Sports Promotion Board got the better of Railway Sports Promotion Board in the semi-finals of the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup, here on Wednesday.
The first semi-final, saw BPCL triumph over ONGC via a shootout. In a toughly contested game ONGC took the lead early on in the 9th minute via a PA Macheiah goal. Tushar Khandker rolled back the years with an equaliser for BPCL in the 34th minute. A cagey second half saw both teams lock down their defences as the game dragged into a shootout.
ONGC opened the shootout, Diwakar Ram putting away his attempt with ease. SV Sunil then drew BPCL level with his goal. Gurjinder Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay missed their attempts to keep the teams level. ONGC proceeded to miss their next one too, as Birender Lakra put BPCL in the lead. Mandeep Antil (ONGC) and Amir Khan (BPCL) both scored, leaving BPCL in the lead. ONGC’s final shooter, Gurwinder Singh’s miss handed BPCL a 3-2 victory and a place in the finals. Tushar Khandker was named the Man of the Match.
Railways took on Air India in the second semi-final. In a game which saw a flurry of goals in the first half, it was Air India who took the lead, early in the 4th minute via Mehkeet Singh. Railways rallied back with an equaliser within two minutes via an Amit Rohidas PC conversion. In the 22nd minute Pradeep Singh gave Railways the lead going in the break. Air India’s equaliser came in the 44th minute Gagandeep Singh’s successful conversion of the penalty stroke. The teams were level at 2-2 at full time to take the game into a shootout.
In a low scoring shootout, where only three players found the board, Railways ended up 2-1 winners, with Talwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh as the scorers in the shootout. Pradeep Singh was adjudged the Man of the Match.
BPCL will take on Railways in the final today at 1830 hours. The earlier game at 1630 hours will see ONGC and Air India contest for the third place.
Courtesy: www.hockeyindia.org
