An inspired Army XI struck telling blows in the last quarter with Chandan Aind achieving a hat-trick of penalty corner conversions to beat Air India 5-3 in Hockey Karnataka's inaugural Bengaluru Cup All-India hockey tournament here Monday.
The victory took Army XI's tally to four points after three games in the five-team men's competition and kept their hopes of qualifying for the final alive.
Army XI forged ahead with a fourth minute goal by Arun Kumar but Air India, brimming with international players, struck twice through Samir Dad (28th) and V.S. Vinay (50th) for a 2-1 lead.
However, Aind converted the first of his three penalty corners to restore parity in the 58th minute only to see Air India forge ahead again on a goal by Vikram Pillai two minutes later.
Army XI pulled out all stops to score thrice in a seven-minute spell with Aind converting two more penalty corners and Binay Bhengra adding another to the tally to provide a 5-3 result.
Earlier, in the women's section, young Tamil Nadu goalkeeper Karen Johnson made more than a dozen saves but that did not stop M.P. Academy from winning 9-0.
Mizo girl R. Ramngaihzuali scored three and Shivani Singh struck twice, while Anuja Singh, Rakhi Prajapathi, Karishma Singh and Manmeet Kaur completed the tally.
Results:
Men: Army XI 5 (Arun Kumar 4th, Chandan Aind 58th, 63rd, 68th, Binay Bhengra 69th) beat Air India 3 (Samir Dad 28th, VS Vinay 50th, Vikram Pillai 60th).
Women: M.P. Academy 9 (R Ramngaihzuali 8th, 40th, 62nd; Shivani Singh 19th, 35th, Anuja Singh 17th, Rakhi Prajapathi 22nd, Karishma Singh 30th, Manmeeth Kaur 65th) beat Tamil Nadu 0.
