: Defending champion Indian Railways and Punjab National Bank (PNB) stormed into the semifinals of the 91st All India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament here today, with facile wins in their final league matches.
While Railways made short work of BPCL 4-2, PNB outclassed Army XI 3-0 on a day when a sharp spell of rain affected proceedings. The two teams finished with all-win records in Pool "A" and "B" respectively.
The powerful Railways team conceded a goal in the 12th minute as Abhishek slammed home from a penalty corner. Stung by the early reverse, the holders pumped in three goals in the space of 15 minutes as Ajit Kumar Pandey (19th), Malak Singh (32nd) and Ajmer Singh (34th) got into the act.
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Raju Paul added to the Railways' tally in the 38th minute before BPCL reduced the margin when Devinder Walmiki found the back of the net in the 55th minute.
Railways notched up four straight wins while it was an eminently forgettable outing for a strong BPCL squad after staring with a win over HUT in the opener.
In the PNB vs Army XI match, the former continued its good form to post a handsome win. The bankmen,who had hammered ONGC 5-2 yesterday and looked sharp again this evening.
After a barren first half, Shamsher Singh broke through to give PNB the lead in the 41st minute. He scored again in the 55th minute while Sanjay rounded out the tally in the 69th minute.
In the first match of the day, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu ended its losing streak, by posting a 3-2 win over Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) in its final league encounter.
PSB went ahead in the fourth minute through a penalty corner conversion by Jaskaran Singh. HUT hit back almost immediately with G Saravana Kumar scoring from a counter attack.
The local team then stepped up the pressure and added two more goals in the first half. V Veera Thamizan scored a brace, one a field goal and another a penalty corner.
Up 3-1 at half-time, HUT saw Gaganpreet Singh pull one back for PSB in the 41st minute off a penalty corner.
Tamil Nadu defended well for the rest of the game to earn its first win.
HUT has one game to go, against the impressive Hockey Bengaluru tomorrow.
Results: Pool "A": Indian Railways 4 (Ajit Kumar Pandey 19m, Malak Singh 32, Ajmer Singh 34, Raju Paul 38) bt BPCL 2 (Abhishek 12, Devinder Walmiki 55).
HUT 3 (G Saravana Kumar 5, V Veera Thamizan 26, 33) bt Punjab & Sind Bank 2 (Jaskaran Singh 4, Gaganpreet Singh 41).
Pool "B" Punjab National Bank 3 (Shamsher Singh 41, 55, Sanjay 69) bt Army XI 0.
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