Hockey Association of Odisha routs Karnataka in MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey

Chennai, September 2024: Hockey Association of Odisha (HOD) opened its campaign in the 95^thMCC-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 22^ndminute after which they dominated proceedings. Tirkey Rajat Akash increased the lead with a strike in the 29^th minute which swelled with a goal by Kangadi Satish a minute later. Satish scored again in the 56^thas Odisha opened a 4-0 lead.

K Chethan Mallappa reduced the margin by slamming one past the Odisha custodian in the 60^th 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 11^th minute. Rajinder Singh followed shortly, finding the net in the 15^th minute, giving BPCL an early 2-0 lead. However, MAH responded with Mayur Dhanavde converting a penalty corner in the 22^nd 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 45^th and 51^st 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 45^th and 46^th minutes, pushing MAH’s lead to 5-2.

BPCL fought back with Sunil Somwarpet scoring in the 40^th minute and Varun Kumar converting a penalty stroke in the 53^rd 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 33^rd 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 42^ndminute and then scoring again from a penalty corner in the 53^rd 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