KOLKATA: The 121st Beighton Cup final will be played between Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil (IOC) as both the teams registered comfortable victories in semifinals on Monday at SAI Complex in Kolkata.
While BPCL beat the defending champions Punjab National Bank (PNB) 5-2, Indian Oil overcame the challenge of ONGC 5-3.
PNB started the match on a attacking note but as it progressed BPCL were the dominant side. Former India international Tushar Khandker and 2016 Junior World Cup winning captain Harjeet Singh were outstanding throughout the game.
India international S.V. Sunil gave BPCL the lead in the 29th minute with Jarnail Singh joining him on the scoresheet six minutes later. In the second half BPCL completely outclassed PNB as Sunil sounded the board thrice in the 37th, 43rd and 50th minute before Shamsher Singh (56th) and Gagandeep Singh (67th) reduced the margin for PNB.
The second semifinal was comparatively evenly matched encounter. India international V.R. Raghunath gave Indian Oil lead in the 26th minute, but ONGC responded almost immediately through Diwakar Ram who struck the equalizer just two minutes later.
After change of ends, Indian Oil showed attacking intent and restored their lead in the 45th minute courtesy Roshan Minz before ONGC struck back to back through Gurbaj Singh (55th) and Vikramjit Singh (62nd) to take a 3-2 lead.
However, Indian Oil exhibited tremendous fighting spirit in the later stages of the game and scored three times in last six minutes through Gurjinder Singh (64th) and former India forward Deepak Thakur (66th & 70th) to set up the summit clash with BPCL on Tuesday (27th December).
Photo Credits: Sports India Live