Hockey Karnataka edges out Indian Army via sudden death in a semifinal thriller

Hockey Karnataka reach final of 94th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup after beating Indian Army 4-3 in shoot-out. Indian Railways beat PNB 3-2 in other semi. Karnataka's maiden entry to tournament. Intense match with no drag-flicker in either team. Railways cruise to final.

It was ironic that Indian Army’s forward Sumeet Pal Singh, easily one of the best strikers of the 94th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup All-India hockey tournament, hit a shot wide in sudden death that enabled Hockey Karnataka to win the semifinals 4-3 here on Saturday. In regulation time, Karnataka and Army had scored a goal each.

The victory ensured Karnataka’s title-clash against Indian Railways, which earlier shut out Punjab National Bank 3-2 in another last four clash.

In the shoot-out, both teams were tied 2-2 each, and in the ensuing sudden death, S.V. Sunil and Nikin Thimmaiah scored for Karnataka. For Army, Jobanpreet Singh converted but Sumeet hit it just wide despite wrong-footing the ‘keeper.

While in the 1980s, Karnataka XI won the title at MCC, Chepauk, it was Bangalore Hockey Association that reached the final in 2017.

By far, this was the best match of the tournament in terms of strategy and tactics. Army opened the account in the first quarter thanks to a defensive blunder from Karnataka. Rahul stole the ball and passed it to Rajant, who pushed it home. Karnataka equalised in the second half through Chelsea Medappa.

Both teams attacked and defended with a rare intensity and passion, and it was a game between equals. The sore point, though was the absence of a good specialist drag flicker in both teams. Army had six PCs and failed to convert none.

As expected, Indian Railways didn’t have much of a challenge from PNB. By the time Gursimran Singh scored PNB’s second goal in the dying minutes, the contest was as good as over.