 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Fancied Indian Airlines and Indian Oil made short work of their opponents in the Super League stage of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament in Delhi on Thursday.
Goals by senior players including mercurial forward Dhanraj Pillay saw Airlines trouncing Bharat Petroleum 4-1, while Indian Oil rode on two late strikes to beat Air India, Mumbai, 2-1 at the Shivaji stadium.
The match between Airlines and BPCL was expected to be a close contest, but it turned out otherwise as the former slammed home at regular interval to emerge runaway winners.
Arjun Halappa (3rd minute), Bimal Lakra (13th) and former India captain Pillay (56th) gave the side a 3-0 lead before Pundalik Bellary reduced the margin through a field goal in the 57th minute.
Girish Pimpale gave the finishing touches to Airlines' effort by slamming home in the 61st minute.
Indian Oil and Air India were goalless till the 55th minute, when Bikramjit Singh sounded the board for the winners before Prabhjot Singh swelled the lead 13 minutes later.
Trailing 0-2, Air India made a last ditch attempt and reduced the margin in the 68th minute through Surinder Singh's goal but their rivals saw off the last two minutes to collect full points.