HUTN’s Manoj scores a goal with an acrobatic effort.
| Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN) pulled off a stunning 5-1 upset victory over former champion Indian Army in a Pool-A contest of the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup invitation hockey tournament at the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Friday.
However, the other two matches went largely according to the script with NCOE (Bhopal) putting it across Maharashtra 4-2 in Pool-A and multiple champion IOC eking out a 2-0 win over Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in Pool-B.
HUTN took the day’s honours with a splendid performance against an Army team that looked off-colour. The Army outfit’s attack lacked sting and defence appeared lackadaisical. But full credit to the hosts who went all-out.
HUTN, comprising seven players from the Centre of Excellence, Kovilpatti, created opportunities from the centre and the flanks, flummoxing the opponent no end. The scoreline would have been more had it converted the half-chances.
Though Balachandar scored a brace, the hosts’ triumph was a complete team effort. The defence comprising G.M. Pruthvi, Y. Anand, and Patras Tirkey thwarted quite a few dangerous run-ins by Army.
While NCOE had it relatively easy, it was a battle of nerves between IOC and CBDT. Till half-time, both the teams battled hard without conceding a goal. However, in the third quarter, Sumit Kumar struck gold when he deflected home a fierce drive from former Olympian V.R. Raghunath. Affan Yousuf made it 2-0 in the fourth quarter, off a move from the right flank.
The results: Pool-A: HUTN 5 (B. Sathish 14, Patras Tirkey 32, Balachandar 34 & 59, Manoj Kumar 57) bt Indian Army 1 (Atish Dodrai 42); NCOE (Bhopal) 4 (Tirloki Venvanshi 10, Mohit Karma 19, Vikas Valmiki 44, Mohammad Zaid Khan 55) bt Maharashtra 2 (Prajwal Moharkar 45, Rahul Shinde 48).
Pool-B: IOC 2 (Sumit Kumar 38, Affan Yousuf 48) bt CBDT 0.
Published – July 11, 2025 08:54 pm IST
Content Source: www.thehindu.com