Category: Obedullah Khan Heritage Cup

by Abhishek Shukla

BPCL hold off Railway to become Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup 2016 Champions

Bhopal, 21 September 2016: In the Final of the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. took on the Railway Sports Promotion Board and Air India Sports Promotion Board were up against the Oil Natural Gas Corporation in the third place match.
In the first match for the day Air India beat ONGC for third place. Air India took the lead in the 8th minute via Arjun Sharma and doubled it in the 17th with a goal by AB Cheeyanna. ONGC hit back with a goal in the 18th minute scored by Bikash Toppo to take the game into half time separated only by one. Despite several attempts on goal and circle penetrations by both teams, neither were able to add to the scoreboard. Heroics from Gurpreet Singh in Air India’s goal won him the Man of the Match award as Air India took the win to finish third in the tournament.
Railways and BPCL faced off in the Final, in a gritty encounter that went to a shootout. It took till the second half for the first goal of the game as Railways took the lead in the 40th minute via an Amit Rohidas PC conversion. Seven minutes later BPCL drew level. Tushar Khandker with another terrific performance for his team scoring the equaliser. With the scores level the game went into a shootout.
Both teams had already been through a shootout in the Semi Finals, one through with ease, the other through in nerve-wracking fashion. It was BPCL again, clinical in the shootout, despite an early miss who went on to win it 3-0 as Railways failed to score from a single one of their three attempts. Amit Rohidas was named the Man of the Match.
In the individual awards, Gurpreet Singh of Air India won the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament Award. BPCL’s Manpreet Singh was adjudged the Best Defender of the Tournament. Railways’ Chinglensana Singh and Affan Yousuf won the Best Midfielder of the Tournament and Best Forward of the Tournament respectively. The Player of the Tournament was BPCL’s Tushar Khandker.
by Abhishek Shukla

BPCL to face Railway in the final of the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup

Bhopal, 21 September 2016: In the semi-finals of the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) took on Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Air India Sports Promotion Board were up against the Railway Sports Promotion Board.

The first semi-final, saw BPCL triumph over ONGC via a shootout. In a toughly contested game ONGC took the lead early on in the 9th minute via a PA Macheiah goal. Tushar Khandker rolled back the years with an equaliser for BPCL in the 34th minute.  A cagey second half saw both teams lock down their defences as the game dragged into a shootout.

ONGC opened the shootout, Diwakar Ram putting away his attempt with ease. SV Sunil then drew BPCL level with his goal. Gurjinder Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay missed their attempts to keep the teams level. ONGC proceeded to miss their next one too, as Birender Lakra put BPCL in the lead. Mandeep Antil (ONGC) and Amir Khan (BPCL) both scored, leaving BPCL in the lead. ONGC’s final shooter, Gurwinder Singh’s miss handed BPCL a 3-2 victory and a place in the finals. Tushar Khandker was named the Man of the Match.

Railways took on Air India in the second semi-final. In a game which saw a flurry of goals in the first half, it was Air India who took the lead, early in the 4th minute via Mehkeet Singh. Railways rallied back with an equaliser within two minutes via an Amit Rohidas PC conversion. In the 22nd minute Pradeep Singh gave Railways the lead going in the break. Air India’s equaliser came in the 44th minute Gagandeep Singh’s successful conversion of the penalty stroke. The teams were level at 2-2 at full time to take the game into a shootout.

In a low scoring shootout, where only three players found the board, Railways ended up 2-1 winners, with Talwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh as the scorers in the shootout. Pradeep Singh was adjudged the Man of the Match.

BPCL will take on Railways in the final today at 1830 hours. The earlier game at 1630 hours will see ONGC and Air India contest for the third place.

by Abhishek Shukla

Air India and Punjab & Sind Bank seal victories on Day 6 of the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup

Bhopal, 20 September 2016: Day 6 of the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup saw Air India take on Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) in the final Group A encounter and Punjab & Sind Bank took on Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy in Group D.

Contrary to expectations, CAG took a lead as early as the 9th minute via a PC conversion by Azam Baig. Playing a defensively strong game, they held out Air India for a majority of the period before Joga Singh’s 30th minute strike drew the two teams level going into the break. Air India came out much stronger in the second half, controlling the pace of the game and they soon took the lead via Arjun Sharma’s PC conversion in the 48th minute. Janma Majhi added a third for them in the 70th minute to guarantee them a victory and a place in the Semi-Finals. Air India’s Gurpreet Singh was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Punjab & Sind Bank beat Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 7-2 in the second encounter of the day. Sukhjeet Singh (31’, 51’) and Karamjit Singh (55’, 67’) scored a brace each for Punjab & Sind Bank. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy’s goal scorers were Akram Iqbal (38’) and Faisal Aziz (68’). Sukhjeet Singh was named the Man of the Match.

The first Semi-Final, to be held today at 17.00 hours and will see Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. take on Oil & Natural Gas Corporation. In the second Semi-Final at 19.00 hours, Air India Sports Promotion Board will take on Railway Sports Promotion Board.

by Abhishek Shukla

Indian Oil and Universities win on day 5 of Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup

Bhopal, 19 September 2016: The fifth day of the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup had Indian Oil Corporation, Punjab National Bank, Association of Indian Universities and Sports Authority of India in action from Pools C & B respectively.

In the Pool C game, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. ran out winners against Punjab National Bank. IOCL took the lead in the 12th minute by Victo Singh, but PNB equalised soon enough via Arjun Antil in the 24th minute. IOCL regained the lead just before halftime via a PC conversion by VR Raghunath in the 32nd minute. Raghunath doubled the lead and his tally for the game with another PC conversion in the 38th minute. Captain Deepak Thakur added to the score line with a brace in the 46th and 64th minute as IOCL ended up 5-1 winners. Devesh Chauhan from IOCL was adjudged Man of the Match.

Association of Indian Universities beat Sports Authority of India 3-1 in the Pool B game later in the day. Harmanpreet Singh opened the scoring for AIU in the 16th minute. It took till the second half for SAI to equalise and they did so via Brijender Kushwaha in the 39th minute. AIU took the lead again in the 45th minute via Kanwarjeet Singh, before KP Somiah’s 57th minute goal sealed a 3-1 victory to AIU. Goalkeeper Paras Malhotra was adjudged Man of the Match.

As per the current pool standings; BPCL from Pool B, ONGC from Pool C and Railway Sports Promotion Board from Pool D have qualified for the Semi-Finals. Pool A is still open depending on the results of the match to be played today at 17.00 hrs.

by Abhishek Shukla

BPCL wins, PNB holds ONGC in Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup

Bhopal, 16 September 2016: The third day of the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Hockey Cup had ONGC, Punjab National Bank, BPCL and Sports Authority of India in action from Pools C & B respectively.
 
In the Pool C game, ONGC and PNB drew 1-1. ONGC opened the scoring in the 21st minute via a PC conversion by Diwakar Ram. In a defensive game, dominated by the midfield tussle, PNB struggled to equalise till the final ten minutes of play. In the 63rd minute, they won a stroke for a technical foul in the D area and Arjun Antil put it away to draw them level and ensure both teams split the points. Diwakar Ram was adjudged the Man of the Match.
 
BPCL beat SAI 3-2 in the second encounter of the day. The Pool B encounter started off at a fast pace, with BPCL dominating the early exchanges. They scored two quick goals in the first half, both off Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (12’, 15’) before adding the third right from the restart via S.V Sunil in the 32nd minute. Not to be outdone, SAI reduced the deficit in the 35th minute with a PC conversion by Abhishakh. In the 65th minute they got another goal via another PC conversion by Abhay, and ensured an exciting finish to a quality game. BPCL held on though, to take the victory. Lalit Kumar Upadhyay was adjudged the Man of the Match.