Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup Hockey: IOC, BPCL enter semis

Bhopal: IOC and BPCL entered the semi-finals of the 65th All-India Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup Hockey tournament with lopsided wins over their opponents.

While IOC defeated Railways 4-1, BPCL overcame Namdhari XI 3-1 in the quarter-final matches played at the Aish Bagh stadium here last evening. In a one-sided match, IOC was helped to a great extent by its captain Deepak Thakur, who scored goals in the 17th and 56th minutes. Seven minutes after Thakur`s first goal, B R Ravinath chipped in with one of his own to make it 2-0 for IOC at the breather. After Thakur made it 3-0, IOC loosened its grip on the match allowing Mohd. Aleem to score a goal for the Railways in the 59th minute.But IOC`s Roshan Singh netted a goal in the 62nd to take the match beyond Railways. In the second quarter-final match of the day, BPCL opened its account in the 13th minute when Gurpreet Singh converted a penalty corner. In the 33rd minute, Amar Ayyamma scored a filed goal for BPCL making it 2-0 for his side at half-time. In the 44th minute, Sher Singh scored a field goal for BPCL to make the score 3-0 in his team`s favour. In the 47th minute, Hapreet scored a goal for Namdhari XI but that was not enough for his side to save the match. PTI