Manip Kerketta’s hat-trick ensured Indian Air Force 4-3 victory over Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN) in a Group-B match of the 94th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup all-India hockey here on Friday.
Earlier, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) played a perfect all-round game to outclass Punjab National Bank (PNB), the last edition’s (2019) finalist, 6-2 in another Group-B match. Hockey Karnataka held former champion Indian Railways 1-1 in a Group-A contest.
Air Force clearly appeared the better team in the first two quarters. The host showed its fighting character in the third and fourth quarters. Trailing 4-2, HUTN pulled one back through Aravind in the fourth quarter.
Attacking relentlessly and with seconds remaining for the hooter, HUTN had its last chance to equalise when it received a penalty corner. However, Air Force custodian Ponnanna produced a brilliant save by diving to his right to thwart a fierce drive by Y. Anand.
After a tame draw the other day against HUTN, CAG came with a set plan and executed it really well. No doubt, it was the much organised team throughout against a stronger opponent. From defending exceptionally well to being racy in counter-attacks, CAG rattled PNB no end.
Full credit to Karnataka for pulling off a draw against the mighty Railways. More than the forwardline, it was Karnataka’s defence that proved rock-solid against a reputed set of forwards.
The results: CAG 6 (Abharan Sudev, Manish Yadav, Parvinder Singh, Jay Prakash Patel, Veerathamizhan 2) bt PNB 2 (Bhagat Singh Dhillon 2); Indian Railways 1 (Pratap Lakra) drew with Hockey Karnataka 1 (S. V. Sunil); Indian Air Force 4 (Manip Kerketta 3, Lovedeep Singh) bt HUTN 3 (Y. Anand, S. Mareeswaran, V. Aravind).
