Chennai: The Hockey Unit of Tamilnadu failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey tournament as it lost to Punjab and Sind Bank, 1-3 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, here, Tuesday.
Punjab and Sind Bank led from the front from the start of the match but could not score in the first half. Their time however came in the second half, in the 18th minute when Satbir Singh scored a goal to take a 1-0 lead.
After trying hard, TN was able to equalise the score at the 40th minute with V. Vinod Rayer assisting to Joshva near the post to equal the scores. But within two minutes, Ganganpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke to take the lead. In the 45th minute, Paravinder scored another goal as TN rallied behind by two-point difference, going into the final quarter. Despite getting many chances in the last quarter in the form of penalty strokes TN failed to score and in the end, Punjab and Sind Bank won the game comfortably.
In another match, Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) defeated Indian Army 4-1. PNB dominated the proceedings right from the start. As early as the fifth minute, Mandeep Mor converted a goal off a penalty corner. In the second quarter, Gujinder Singh scored the second once again through a penalty corner. With only three minutes left for the third quarter, Mandeep Mor yet again found the net off a penalty corner to take his team to a 3-0 lead. He then completed his hat-trick with a penalty stroke in the 55th minute. Without much left to do, Army managed to score in the 59th minute to avoid a clean sheet.