Punjab Police face ONGC in final
JALANDHAR: Punjab Police, Jalandhar, will take on ONGC, Delhi, in the final of the 34th Indian Oil Servo Surjit Hockey Tournament at Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.
While Punjab Police have entered the final for the 10th time, for ONGC it will be their maiden final. On Monday in the semifinals, ONGC defeated Punjab & Sind Bank 2-0, while Punjab Police outplayed Indian Oil, Mumbai, 5-3.
ONGC and Punjab & Sind Bank started well playing sensibly. It was in the 14th minute that ONGC surged ahead with Nilam Xess converting penalty corner. Punjab & Sind Bank, on the other hand, wasted three penalty corners in first half. At half time ONGC was leading 1-0.
In the second half, ONGC dominated the proceedings and in the 55th minute Suman Kujur netted the ball from the calculated pass of Jarmanpreet Singh from right flank to make it 2-0.
In the second semifinal, Punjab Police dominated from the word go. In the fifth minute, Punjab Police took lead when Olympian Gurvinder Singh Chandi scored from a pass of Olympian Akashdeep Singh (1-0). In the eighth minute, Punjab Police consolidated with Jasjit Singh Kular converting a penalty corner (2-0).
In the second half, Punjab Police’s Akashdeep Singh scored field goal in the 41st minute (3-0). Indian Oil finally managed to reduce the margin with twin strikes coming in 43rd minute (captain and Olympian Deepak Thakur) and in the 47th minute (Affan Yousuf). In the 55th minute Punjab Police’s Olympian Ramandeep Singh scored the field goal to make it 4-2. In the 62nd minute, Indian Oil was once again able to reduce the margin when Raghunath converted the penalty corner 3-4. In 64th minute, Punjab Police’s Jasjit Singh Kullar scored via penalty corner to round off the winners tally.
Chief guest MLA Fetahjung Singh Bajwa announced a grant of ₹2 lakh to the Surjit Hockey Society.