Hockey Association of Odisha (HOD) opened its campaign in the 95th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup All-India Hockey Tournament here on Friday with a 4-1 win over Hockey Karnataka in a Pool ‘B’ match.
Ekka Rahul opened the scoring for Odisha in the 22nd minute after which they dominated proceedings. Tirkey Rajat Akash increased the lead with a strike in the 29th minute which swelled with a goal by Kangadi Satish a minute later. Satish scored again in the 56th as Odisha opened a 4-0 lead.
K Chethan Mallappa reduced the margin by slamming one past the Odisha custodian in the 60th minute.
In the second match on the day, Hockey Maharashtra (MAH) edged out a strong Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) team 5-4 with Aditya Lalge scoring a brace.
The match began with a quick strike from BPCL’s Tejas Chavan, who scored in the 11th minute. Rajinder Singh followed shortly, finding the net in the 15th minute, giving BPCL an early 2-0 lead. However, MAH responded with Mayur Dhanavde converting a penalty corner in the 22nd minute to bring the score to 2-1.
There were several goals in the second half, starting with Stephen Swamy, who netted two goals in the 45th and 51st minutes followed by Aditya Lalge, who added to the excitement by scoring once from a penalty corner and the other from open play in the 45th and 46th minutes, pushing MAH’s lead to 5-2.
BPCL fought back with Sunil Somwarpet scoring in the 40th minute and Varun Kumar converting a penalty stroke in the 53rd minute, narrowing the gap to 5-4. However, Hockey Maharashtra held on and won the match.
Hockey Maharashtra’s win reinforces their position as a formidable contender in the tournament. Fans are eager to see how they will build on this thrilling victory in their upcoming matches.
In the final match of the day, National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Bhopal got past Central Secretariat (CS) 3-2. NCOE took the lead with a goal from Rajat Minz in the 33rd minute, but CS responded with consecutive goals with Vinay and M Hassan Basha scoring, to put CS at 2-1.
In the second half, NCOE regrouped, with Parmod levelling the score from a penalty stroke in the 42nd minute and then scoring again from a penalty corner in the 53rd minute to secure the win.
Results:
Pool B: Hockey Association of Odisha 4 (Ekka Rahul 22, Tirkey Rajat Akash 29, Kangadi Satish 30 & 56) beat Karnataka 1 (K. Chethan Mallappa 60).
Pool A: Hockey Maharashtra 5 (Mayur Dhanavde 22, Stephen Swamy 45 & 51, Aditya Lalge 45 & 46) beat BPCL 4 (Tejas Chavan 11, Rajinder Singh 15, Sunil Somwarpet 40, Varun Kumar 53).
Pool B: National Centre of Excellence (NCOE, Bhopal) 3 (Rajat Minz 33, Parmod 42 & 53) beat Central Secretariat 2 (Vinay 35, Hassan Basha 38).
Match schedule: Saturday, 21st September, 2024
1st Match at 2:30 P.M. – (POOL A) Hockey Maharashtra vs (POOL A) Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu
2nd Match at 4.15 PM – (POOL B) Hockey Karnataka vs (POOL B) IOC
3rd Match at 6:00 P.M. – (POOL A) Indian Army – Red vs (POOL A) RSPB – Indian Railways
