Pune, March 7: In an exciting encounter at the 41st PSPB Inter-Unit Hockey Tournament, defending champions Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and runner-up Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) secured victories in their respective matches on Friday. The matches took place at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in Pune, with both teams earning three points from their wins.
With this victory, BPCL leads the standings with six points from two wins, while IOCL follows in second place with three points after their round two match against Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). Engineers India Limited (EIL) has faced consecutive losses and remains without any points.
In Friday’s match, BPCL edged past ONGC with a score of 4-3. The game began with BPCL trailing after Gurjot Singh scored a field goal for ONGC in the 17th minute.
BPCL responded strongly, scoring three goals, including an equalizer from 2002 Olympic medalist Varun Kumar via a penalty corner in the 22nd minute. Tushar Khandekar, a 2012 Olympian, and Vishwas Ji added two more field goals, giving BPCL a 3-1 lead.
ONGC’s Jagwant Singh narrowed the gap with a goal in the 52nd minute. However, current India international Rajinder Singh extended BPCL’s lead to 4-2 before ONGC’s Bikash Toppo scored in the final minute, bringing the score to 4-3.
In the second match of the day, IOCL defeated EIL 2-0, with goals from Roshan Minz in the 14th minute and Sunil Yadav in the 54th minute, securing all points for IOCL.