Indian Oil beat Bharat Petroleum to win 5th Beighton Cup crown

Kolkata, Dec 27 (IANS) Indian Oil won their fifth All India Beighton Cup title by edging past Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) 5-3 in the final at the SAI training centre here on Tuesday.

India defender Gurjinder Singh scored a first half brace with S.K. Uthappa with the veteran duo of captain Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh also finding the net.

Indian Oil led by three unanswered goals at halftime.

Bharat Petroleum, led by Sukhwinder Singh, tried to stage a comeback in the early stages of the second half through Amir Khan and Varun Kumar who sounded the boards after a flurry of penalty corners.

But Deepak and Prabhjyot sealed the deal by scoring two more goals with Harmanpreet Singh getting on the scoresheet for the runners-up with a late consolation goal.

Indian Oil looked the better team in the initial stages, earning two quick penalty corners before Gurjinder took the lead off one.

S.V. Sunil was in the thick of things by creating good moves. Prabhjyot made a solo run, almost doubling the lead, before Uthappa pulled the trigger to make it 2-0 from a V.R. Raghunath pass.

Gurjinder doubled his tally from another penalty corner as Indian Oil made the most of their opportunities while Bharat Petroleum failed to do so.

The eventual winners also saw their goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan on top of his game pulling off a string of good saves.

After the breather, Amir scored a field goal to make it 3-1 with Varun finally converting a penalty corner for Bharat Petroleum.

Deepak and Prabhjyot though dashed any hopes of a fightback by netting goals in quick succession. Harmanpreet finished off the goal glut with a consolation strike in the dying minutes of the match.

"We wanted them to press the panic button first," Deepak, who was part of all five Indian Oil wins in the oldest domestic tournament, told reporters later.

"They were younger and faster than us. We had quite a few veterans in the side so we could not match up to their pace. We played the Asian style of hockey while they stuck to the European style which the national team also plays. I am happy as captain that we prevailed eventually," he added.

Indian Oil's Kothajit Singh was adjudged the man of the tournament.

"I take inspiration from Mary Kom (boxer)," the Manipuri said.

"She and Sarita Devi (boxer) have inspired me a lot," added the 24-year old India international.

--IANS

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