Uthappa’s 49th-minute strike helped IOC secure a draw against Indian Army.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) held Indian Army to a 2-2 draw in a Pool-A match of the 97th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Wednesday, leaving the latter’s semifinal hopes hanging in the balance.
Indian Railways has secured its semifinal berth from Pool-A, while Army’s progress depends on Thursday’s match between Railways and Punjab National Bank (PNB). PNB needs to win by a seven-goal margin to advance ahead of Army.
In Pool-B, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has qualified for the semifinals. Indian Navy needs only a draw against Malaysia’s junior team on Thursday to join it, while Malaysia must win to progress.
Sunil Yadav put IOCL ahead in the 29th minute, converting a penalty stroke after Army’s Niraj Waribam impeded S.K. Uthappa with his stick near the goal. Army responded immediately, with Cyril Lugun converting a penalty corner in the 30th minute off Rohit Irengbam’s delivery.
Army went ahead in the 43rd minute when Jobanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke. The award followed Lugun’s drag-flick striking Vikramjit Singh’s leg on the goal-line as the defender prevented a certain goal.
IOCL restored parity in the 49th minute through S.K. Uthappa, who finished a long through pass from V.R. Raghunath.
Both sides squandered a penalty corner each in the closing stages.
The results: Pool-A: IOCL 2 (Sunil Yadav 29-ps, S.K. Uthappa 49) drew with Indian Army 2 (Cyril Lugun 30-pc, Jobanpreet Singh 43-ps).
Pool-B: Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 4 (G.M. Pruthvi 14-pc, Yojin Minz 23, 47, Patras Tirkey 26-pc) bt Malaysia junior team (Salihe Muhammad 15-pc, Karthikesan Shivamoorthy 60-pc).
BPCL 5 (Varun Kumar 23-ps, Charanjeet Singh 25, 41, Anmol Ekka 35-pc, Sudeep Chirmako 42) drew with Indian Navy 5 (Sushil Dhanwar 6-pc, Pawan Rajbhar 34, 56-pc, Rajat Sharma 37, Rajat Minz 46).
Published – October 28, 2026 09:44 pm IST
