Hockey: IOCL rout Karnataka XI

Bangalore, Oct 12 (IANS) Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) scored thrice in each half to overrun Karnataka XI 6-2 for their second straight win in the men’s section of Hockey Karnataka’s inaugural Bengaluru Cup All-India invitational hockey tournament here Sunday.

With two wins from two matches, IOCL lead the table with six points while Karnataka XI recorded their first loss in two outings.

In the women’s section, Haryana drubbed Karnataka XI 4-2 earlier in the day for their second win in as many matches while the home team tasted their first defeat.

Meanwhile, Army XI came back from a two-goal deficit to force a 3-3 draw and threatened to steal full points, but had to settle for a draw with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. Army XI muffed three short corners in the last five minutes.

BPCL, thus, picked up their first point in two outings as did Army XI in the five-team men’s competition.

In the women’s section, Western Railway defeated Central Railway 2-0 for their second win in three matches. Central Railway suffered their first loss in three outings to remain on four points.

In a fast-paced match, Karnataka men put up a spirited fight only in the first 10 minutes as IOCL picked up pace after initial hiccups.

With local lad and drag-flick specialist VR Raghunath not in his elements, IOCL failed to convert the first four short corners. However, once skipper Deepak Thakur put them in the lead in the 18th minute, Raghunath and Gurjinder Singh made it 3-0 by the break, converting the next two short corners.

Karnataka scored twice after the breather through Shesha Gowda and Umesh KR, but their joy was short-lived as IOCL struck back through Gurjinder and Deepak Thakur. Raghunath too got his second goal from an extended penalty corner after the hooter.

Results:
Men: IOCL 6 (Deepak Thakur 18th min, 49th, Raghunath 23rd, 70th, Gurjinder Singh 34th, 46th) beat Karnataka XI 2 (Sesha Gowda BM 40th, Umesh KR 46th).

BPCL 3 (Lalith Upadhyay 2nd, Amir Khan 3rd, SV Sunil 22nd) drew with Army XI 3 (Binay Bhengra 14th, Chandan Aind 28th, 60th).

Women: Haryana 4 (Neha 28th, Jyoti Gupta 33rd, Monika 10th, Monika D 57th) beat Karnataka 2 (Ranjitha 21st, 67th).

Western Railway 2 (Jaswinder Kaur 22nd, Navneet Kaur 53rd) beat Central Railway 0.