Sports News | Murugappa Hockey: Central Secretariat Knock out Defending Champions IOC

Chennai, Aug 31 (PTI) Central Secretariat defeated defending champions Indian Oil 6-2 in a Pool A match of Murugappa Gold Cup hockey, knocking them out in the process on Thursday.

Goalkeeper P Naveen Kumar was the star performer for Central Secretariat (CS), making countless saves.

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Gurjinder Singh scored the opening goal for IOC through a penalty corner. But CS bounced back with two quick goals in the 20th and 24th minutes with Hassan Basha and R Manikandan finding the back of the net.

Minutes into the second half, CS extended the lead to 3-1 with Mohammad Umar netting the goal.

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Gurjinder then successfully converted another PC in the 36th minute to reduce the margin.

However, CS struck back with another set of goals in the 40th and 51st minutes, ensuring an easy victory over the defending champions and knocking them out of the semi-final race.

Indian Army Red thrashed Indian Air Force 6-0 in a Pool B match.

Sumeet Pal Singh netted three goals, while Harman Singh scored a brace. Manish Rajbhar entered the scoresheet with a goal, as Army booked a berth in the knockouts.

Karnataka have joined Indian Railways as the semi-finalists from Pool A, while Punjab National Bank and Indian Army Red are the ones heading from Pool B.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)