Pawan Rajbhar, second from left, beats the Malaysian goalkeeper for Indian Navy’s third goal in their Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament match on Thursday .
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU
Indian Navy sealed the second semifinal berth from Pool-B with a 4-2 victory over Malaysia Junior Team in the 97th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Thursday.
Indian Army advanced as the second team from Pool-A after Railways and Punjab National Bank (PNB) played out a 4-4 draw. The result denied PNB the seven-goal winning margin it needed to qualify.
Navy will face Pool-A topper and defending champion Indian Railways in Saturday’s semifinal, while Pool-B winner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) will take on Army.
Navy, which needed only a draw to progress, dominated play and created several scoring opportunities. It took the lead in the eighth minute through Bhavin Kushalappa after Sushil Dhanwar had struck the left post two minutes earlier.
Malaysia drew level in the 27th minute when Muhamad Harith scored from close range, having earlier sent a shot just over the bar.
Navy regained the lead in the 30th minute. Sanjit Toppo’s drag-flick off Pawan Rajbhar’s penalty-corner delivery was deflected into the net by K. Selvaraj.
Rajbhar extended the lead in the 36th minute with a close-range flick into the top of the net. Nitesh made it 4-1 in the 43rd minute, before Muhammad Aizat pulled one back for Malaysia a minute later, diving to push the ball past a defender from close range.
The results: Pool-A: Indian Railways 4 (Sheshe Gowda 26-pc & 28-pc, Lovepreet Singh 31, Jaswinder Singh 47) drew with Punjab National Bank 4 (Gursimran Singh 11-pc, Naveen Antil 57, 59 & 60).
Pool-B: Indian Navy 4 (Bhavin Kushalappa 8, K. Selvaraj 30-pc, Pawan Rajbhar 36, Nitesh 43) bt Malaysia Junior Team 2 (Muhamad Harith 27, Muhammad Aizat 44).
Published – October 29, 2026 07:09 pm IST
