Pune, March 7: In an exhilarating encounter at the 41st PSPB Inter-Unit Hockey Tournament, defending champions Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) secured a thrilling 4-3 victory against Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Friday. The match took place at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in Pune, where both BPCL and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) celebrated victories in their respective matches, earning crucial points in the tournament.
With this win, BPCL now leads the standings with six points from two victories, while IOCL follows closely in second place with three points after their Round 2 match against Engineers India Limited (EIL). EIL has faced two consecutive losses and has yet to score in the tournament.
In the match against ONGC, BPCL initially fell behind when Gurjot Singh scored a field goal for ONGC in the 17th minute. However, BPCL quickly responded with three goals, including an equalizer from Olympic medalist Varun Kumar via a penalty corner in the 22nd minute. Tushar Khandekar, another Olympian, and Vishwas Ji added two more field goals, giving BPCL a commanding 3-1 lead by the 45th minute.
ONGC’s Jagwant Singh managed to reduce the deficit with a goal in the 52nd minute, but Rajinder Singh, a current India international, extended BPCL’s lead to 4-2 just four minutes later. In a nail-biting finish, ONGC’s Bikash Toppo scored in the final minute, bringing the score to 4-3, but BPCL held on for the win.
In the day’s second match, IOCL defeated EIL 2-0, with goals from Roshan Minj in the 14th minute and Sunil Yadav in the 54th minute, ensuring IOCL secured all three points.