Sport - Hockey

BPCL stuns Indian Airlines

NEW DELHI: Bharat Petroleum stunned Indian Airlines 3-2 in a racy encounter to set up a title clash with Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) in the Nehru hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here.

PSB made the grade with a 4-1 triumph over Namdhari XI .

Indian Airlines was expected to dominate but found the pace too handle to handle.

“I didn’t have much choice on the bench,” said BPCL coach Romeo James.

His counterpart, Harendra Singh, noted, “it was a tough match but we should have created more penalty corners because that was the best chance for us to win.”

The Airlines team trailed twice but the advantage was lost due to some poor defence in the closing moments.

Gurpreet Singh scored from penalty corners to put BPCL in the lead but Airlines hit back through Sandeep Michael and Sandeep Singh.

In the 67th minute, Sabu Varkey scored when his sliding attempt to connect an Amar Aiyamma cross flew into the goal.

Earlier, PSB was hardly tested by Namdhari XI. Vikramjit Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sarwanjit Singh and Gurvinder Singh scored for PSB, while Harpal Singh reduced the margin. — Special Correspondent

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