Indian Oil, Mumbai and South Central Railway( SCR) , Secundrabad were declared joint winners of the 13th PMC Bank-Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament. Incessant heavy showers which lashed the city on Monday forced the organisers, Mumbai Hockey Association Limited and Tournament Director, Mahesh Kumar to take the decision to share the trophy between the two teams and also split the total prize-money of Rs three lakhs.
Joint Champions… Indian Oil captain Deepak Thakur (right) and South Central Railway skipper M.G. Poonacha (left) receive the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup from MHAL President, Mangha Singh Bakshi and Hon. Gen. Secretary, Ram Singh Rathor.
The astroturf ground at the MHAL-Mahindra stadium was water-logged and with no respite from the rain the Tournament Director, Mahesh Kumar, after holding consultations with MHAL President, Mangha Singh Bakshi and Hon. Gen. Secretary Ram Singh Rathor, took the decision to abandon the match even before the players could take the field.
Joint Winners Indian Oil and South Central Railway players pose with the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup
Indian Oil, had defeated Punjab Police, Jalandhar 4-1 in the first semi-final on Monday to make their third entry into the final of this tournament. They had finished runners-up in 2003 and 2008.
Meanwhile, South Central Railway, who had lost to Army XI in the 2014 final, got the better of the same opponent (Army XI, Bengaluru) 3-2 in the second semi finals.