Hockey Bengaluru and ONGC entered the semifinals of the 91st All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament in contrasting styles.
In their last league match in Pool A, Hockey Bengaluru lost to Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUT) 0-1, but managed to qualify for the knockout stage by finishing runner-up on better goal average.
Earlier, in a Pool "B" match, ONGC got the better of Central Secretariat Hockey Team 2-0 to go through to the semifinal behind Punjab National Bank (PNB), which yesterday itself sealed its place with an all-win record.
The impressive Bengaluru team ran into a determined HUT, whose players showed a lot of aggressive intent.
Faced with a near impossible task of beating the rival by a margin of six goals to secure a last four spot, the local outfit played free-flowing hockey and one such move resulted in a penalty stroke in the 35th minute which G Gnanavel converted.
HUT had revived slim chances of qualification for the semifinal by beating Punjab & Sind Bank 3-2 yesterday. The TN players carried the momentum into today's match but lack of goals hurt it in the end.
In the other encounter, ONGC bounced back from a 5-2 defeat at the hands of PNB to finish its round-robin engagements on a winning note.
ONGC went ahead through a penalty corner conversion by Machaiah in the 12th minute after an attacking move. There were no further goals in the first half as the teams battled hard to wrest control.
Central Secretariat conceded another goal, when Nilam Xess scored from a penalty corner in the 61st minute to wrap up the win.
In the semifinals to be played on August 5, after a day's rest tomorrow, Indian Railways will clash with ONGC while PNB comes up against Hockey Bengaluru.
Results:
Pool "A" Hockey Unit of TN 1 (G Gnanavel 35m) bt Hockey Bengaluru 0.
Pool "B": ONGC 2 (Machaiah 12m, Nilam Xess 61) bt Central Secretariat Hockey Team 0.
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