Karnataka bow out after loss to ONGC

 Karnataka men put up a valiant fight before going down 3-4 to defending champions Indian Oil Corporation Limited  in the Bengaluru Cup hockey tournament on Saturday.

With this loss, the home team exited the tournament after managing to accumulate just four points from as many games. On the other hand, IOCL, bagged ten points and lead the table with a game in hand.

 Karnataka fell behind in the eighth minute after Vickram Kanth danced his way into the striking area and pulled back for Yuvraj Walmiki, who stroked the ball into an empty net.
Karnataka equalised in the 19th minute through Thimmanna PL and took an unlikely lead in the 29th minute. Poonacha MG dragged IOCL stopper Baljit Singh off his line and selflessly passed to Machaiah, who finished the move with a simple tap-in.

IOCL began the second half effervescently and equalised through Deepak Thakur in the 47th minute.

Two goals in three minutes from former India international Prabhjot Singh (54th and 57th) turned the game on its head and IOCL were firmly in the driver’s seat. Karnataka pulled one back through Raheel  but that wasn’t enough on the day.

ONGC beat BPCL

In another game, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) edged past Bharath Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) 3-2. ONGC needed a win to keep their hopes alive but were dumped out after IOCL’s win over Karnataka.

Results: Men: IOCL: 4 (Yuvraj Walmiki 8th, Deepak Thakur 47th, Prabhjot Singh 54th, 57th) bt Karnataka: 3 (Thimmanna PL 19th, Machaiah 29th, MD Raheel 65th); ONGC: 3 (Preetinder Singh 9th, 49th, KH Jayanta 39) bt BPCL: 2 (Gurpreet Singh 12th, Amir Khan 13th).

Women: Haryana: 2 (Devika Sen 5th, Preeti 17th) bt MP Academy: 0.