Army XI cruised into the semi-finals of the 32nd Indian Oil Servo Surjit hockey tournament at the Olympian Surjit Stadium in Jalandhar with a 3-2 win over Punjab Police in a Pool C encounter on Monday
Army XI cruised into the semi-finals of the 32nd Indian Oil Servo Surjit hockey tournament at the Olympian Surjit Stadium in Jalandhar with a 3-2 win over Punjab Police in a Pool C encounter on Monday evening.
The teams displayed attacking hockey and the Armymen went ahead in the 20th minute, with a penalty corner conversion from Chandan Aind.
Two minutes later, Punjab Police equalised through Amit Sandhu. The Armymen kept up the pressure and created several chances, but an alert Punjab Police goalkeeper Rajbir Singh ensured that there was no change in the scorecard at half time.
In the second half, Army XI’s Binay Bhangra (39th minute) broke through the police team’s defence to make it 2-1. Punjab Police were quick on the counter and in the 45th minute, Lovepreet Singh sounded the board as the teams were level 2-2.
It was a hard-fought battle from here on, and Army XI emerged on top with Viswa Thakur finding the net in the 51st minute to send his team through.
