Indian Railways advances to semi-finals of the All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey
Chennai, 26th September, 2024: Defending champions Indian Railways edged Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) 5-4 in a thriller to secure a semi-finals berth in the 95th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament here on Wednesday. Railways join the Indian Army in the last four from Pool A.
Railways and BPCL were locked at 2-0 at the end of the first quarter. BPCL went ahead in the third minute with Devindar Walmiki scoring off a penalty corner. Railways hit back strongly and scored two goals (in the 9th and 13th minute) as Joginder Singh and Parampreet Singh converted penalty corners. BPCL equalised in the 14th minute as Rajinder Singh scored of a penalty corner.
Railways took the lead by scoring in the 28th and 35th minutes and had the better of the proceedings. Devindar Walmiki found a goal in the 54th minute but BPCL could not halt Railways’ march into the knockout stage.
While Railways and Army made the semi-finals from Pool A, IOC and Hockey Odisha made the grade from Pool B.
Earlier, in the first match of the day, Hockey Karnataka thrashed Central Secretariat 6-1 with Ganesh Majji and A H Deekshith scoring a brace each in a Pool ‘B’ match. Karnataka, which had bowed out of contention for place in the semi-finals, finished their engagements on a high with a resounding victory.
Ganesh Majji opened the scoring in the fourth minute while Deekshith made it 2-0 in the 11th. Majji sounded the board again in the 19th minute to put Karnataka 3-0 in front. Chelsea Medappa pumped in two goals, in the 22nd and 30th minutes as Karnataka dominated proceedings to be 5-0 at half-time.
In the second half, Deekshith added another goal to his tally as Karnataka went up 6-0.Karthi Selvam scored in the 47th minute to reduce the margin and CS finished their round-robin engagements with one draw and three defeats. Interestingly, all were field goals.
In the second match of the day, Indian Army beat Maharashtra 2-1 to make sure of a semi-final berth from Pool A.
Riding on goals from Cyril Lugun (13th minute) and Akshay Dubey (41st), Army scored an easy win and dashed whatever little hope Maharashtra had of making it to the last four. Venkatesh Kenche (46th minute) reduced the margin for Maharashtra.
Felicitation Ceremony
At a felicitation ceremony today, Hockey legends Munir Sait, BP Govinda, V Baskaran and Mohammed Riaz were honoured by Mr Ashish Hallan, President & COO, Chola MS General Insurance Company Limited. Olympians SV Sunil, Devendra Walmiki, Devesh Chauhan and Rahul Singh, who held special inspirational session for young players from Nellikuppam on Sunday, September 22, 2024, were also felicitated.
Results:
Pool A: Hockey Karnataka 6 (Ganesh Majji (04, 19), Deekshith AH (11, 35), Chelsea Medappa BN (22, 30)) beats Central Secretariat (CSE) 1 (Karthi Selvam (47))
Pool B: Indian Army-Red 2 (Cyril Lugun (13), Akshay Dubey (41)) beats Hockey Maharashtra 1 (Venkatesh Kenche (46))
Pool C: RSPB- Indian Railways 5 (Joginder Singh (9, 35), Parampreet Singh (13), Gursahibjit Singh (28), Darshan Gawkar (58)) beats Bharath Petroleum Corporation LTD 4 (Devindar Walmiki (03, 54, 57), Rajinder Singh (14))
Match schedule: Thursday, 26th September, 2024
1st Match at 02.30 PM – (POOL B) NCOE Bhopal vs (POOL B) Indian Oil Corporation Ltd
2nd Match at 04:15 PM – (POOL A) Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu vs (POOL A) RSPB-Railways
First Match
| Players | Minute |
| Ganesh Majji (KAR) | 04FG |
| Deekshith A H (KAR) | 11 FG |
| Ganesh Majji (KAR) | 19 FG |
| Chelsea Medappa BN (KAR) | 22 FG |
| Chelsea Medappa BN (KAR) | 30 FG |
| Deekshith A H (KAR) | 35 FG |
| Karthi Selvam (CSE) | 47 FG |
Second Match
| Players | Minute |
| Cyril Lugun (ARMY) | 13 PS |
| Akshay Dubey (ARMY) | 41 FG |
| Venkatesh Kenche (MAH) | 46 PC |
Third Match
| Players | Minute |
| Devindar Walmiki (BPCL) | 03 PC |
| Joginder Singh (RSPB) | 09 PC |
| Parampreet Singh (RSPB) | 13 PC |
| Rajinder Singh (BPCL) | 14 PC |
| Gursahibjit Singh (RSPB) | 28 FG |
| Joginder Singh (RSPB) | 35 PC |
| Devindar Walmiki (BPCL) | 54 PS |
| Devindar Walmiki (BPCL) | 57 FG |
| Darshan Gawkar (RSPB) | 58 FG |
| POOL – A | ||||||||
| SL.NO | TEAM | PLAYED | WON | DRAWN | LOST | FOR | AGAINST | POINTS |
| 1 | INDIAN ARMY – RED | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 8 |
| 2 | RAILWAY SPORTS PROMOTION BOARD | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | BHARAT PETROLEUM CORPORATION LTD | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 4 |
| 4 | HOCKEY UNIT OF TAMIL NADU | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| 5 | HOCKEY MAHARASTRA | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 3 |
| POOL- B | ||||||||
| SL.NO | TEAM | PLAYED | WON | DRAWN | LOST | FOR | AGAINST | POINTS |
| 1 | INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LTD (IOCL) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | HOCKEY ODISHA | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 7 |
| 3 | HOCKEY KARANATAKA | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 6 |
| 4 | NCOE, BHOPAL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 3 |
| 5 | CENTRAL SECRETARIAT | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 1 |
