Railways clinch Surjit hockey title

Indian Railways clinched their maiden Surjit hockey title, defeating holders Indian Oil 4-3 in a thrilling final at Olympian Surjit Stadium in Jalandhar on Thursday night.

The teams began defensively, trying to assess each other. In the 13th minute, Olympian and Indian Oil captain Deepak Thakur sounded the boards following a pass from Inderjit Chadha.

Railways captain Vinod Kumar equalised in the 18th minute, while Malak Singh put the Railmen ahead through a penalty corner in the 34th minute.

In the second half, Indian Railways struck twice in a span of two minutes to tilt the match in their favour. Malak added another in the 43rd minute, and Affan Yusuf added soon after as the team surged ahead 4-1.

In the 55th minute, Indian Oil reduced the margin through Sunil Yadav, who capitalised on a pass from Chadha. The team kept up the fight and a 63rd-minute strike from Thakur brought the team close.

The last seven minutes were tensely fought, with Railways holding their own to seal their maiden title. For Indian Oil, it was their sixth runners-up finish.

The winners won '5 lakh and a trophy, while the runners-up took home Rs 2.5 lakh. Malak was named the player of the tournament and won a cash award of Rs 25000.