BPCL, PSB storm into semi-finals

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Punjab and Sind Bank entered the semi finals of the 53rd All India Bombay Gold Cup hockey championship here on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Punjab and Sind Bank would meet South Central Railway in the first semi-final while Bharat Petroleum would clash with defending champions Indian Oil in the second semi-final, in a repeat of last years final.

On Sunday, Bharat Petroleum played well and stormed to a 6-3 victory against a spirited Uttar Pradesh XI in the last quarter final game.

The highlight of BPCLs win were the double strikes from Md.

Amir Khan (3rd & 31st minutes) and Gurpreet Singh (36th & 55th minutes) which put their team firmly in control and secured their big win.

Tushar Khandkar (15th minute) and Shakir Hussain (60th minute) scored a goal each to play perfect supporting roles.

Uttar Pradesh struck through a brace from Deepak Yadav (41st & 57th minutes) and Iktidar Ishrat (37th minute).

Earlier, PSB proved too good for Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) XI and charged to a fluent 5-3 win after leading 5-0 at the end of the first half.

Harmanpreet Singh (4th minute) opened the scoring before Ashish Pal Sharma (9th minute) and Gaganpreet Singh (12th minute) scored two quick goals to increase the lead.

Later, Prince S (22nd minute) and Navdeep Singh (29th minute) fired home the last two goals to seal the win.

MHAL managed to scored three goals though a brace from Osaf Ur Rehman (23rd and 55th minutes) and one from Manjinder Singh (56th minute) to reduce the margin of defeat.