Chennai, Sep 2 (PTI) Indian Railways will be up against Hockey Karnataka in the final of the ongoing Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament here on Sunday.
A strong Railways side knocked out Punjab National Bank 3-2, whereas Hockey Karnataka edged past Indian Army Red 4-3 in the tie-breaker.
As for the Railways-PNB fixture, Indian Railways earned a penalty corner just three minutes into the tie, while Pratap Lakra successfully converted it to give his side the lead.
Minutes later, Anugrah Kujur (10th) infiltrated the Punjab box and struck his shot into the net to double the Railways’ lead.
PNB began the second quarter strongly, with Sanjay converting a PC in the 17th, while the Railways led 2-1 at half-time.
After no action in the third quarter, it was in the final quarter when Arjun Sharma almost sealed the encounter for the Railways, finding the net in the 55th.
Four minutes later, Punjab got a consolation goal through Gursimran Singh in the dying minutes, with the Railways prevailing 3-2.
Considering the Hockey Karnataka-Indian Army meeting, the Indian Army gained the lead in the ninth minute through Rajant’s effort before being cancelled out by Chelsea Medappa in the 22nd.
As things moved into the shootout, Hockey Karnataka succeeded 4-3 in the sudden death, as it was 3-3 in the tie-breaker.
Former India internationals SV Sunil and Nikkin Thimmaiah scored for Hockey Karnataka. While Jobanpreet Singh netted for PNB, Sumeet Pal Singh squandered his opportunity.
Source: PTI News
