Bhopal: Indian Railways claim Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Indian Railways Hockey won the Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup Hockey tournament defeating Army XI 2-1 at Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium here on Sunday.

Playing the hard-lined match in the afternoon on Sunday, Army Green defeated Indian Oil 3-1 to win the third position of the tournament.

Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta Naresh Kumar Gupta and Obaidullah Khan's relative Nadir Rashid distributed the prizes.

Playing the final, Army XI’s Harman Singh scored a field goal to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute of the first quarter of this match. Indian Railways’ Joginder Singh scored from a penalty corner to level his team at 1-1 in the 22nd minute of the second quarter.

Both the teams, however, failed to score a check in the third quarter of the match. In the 50th minute of the fourth quarter, Joginder Singh scored another penalty corner to give his team a 2-1 lead.

In the remaining time, both the teams could not score any goal and Indian Railways team won the final match 2-1. The hard-lined match between Indian Oil and Army Green was held before the final, where the former defeated the latter to claim third position.

In the 9th minute of the first quarter of the match, Indian Oil player Raghunath VR scored from a penalty corner to give his team a 1-0 lead. Indian Oil player Talwinder Singh scored a field goal to make his team 2-0 in the 29th minute of the second quarter.

In the 33rd minute of the third quarter of the match, Army Green player Minal Toppo scored a field goal, opening their account. Army Green player Johnny Jasrotia scored from a penalty corner to level his team's score at 2-2 in 36^th minute.

In the 55th minute of the final quarter, Indian Oil player Sunil Yadav converted a penalty corner to give his team 3-2 lead. In the 58th minute, Army Green’s Pradeep Bisht scored a field goal to level his team's score 3-3, which remained constant till last minute.

The victory was decided by shoot out in which Army Green defeated Indian Oil 3-1 to finish third.

Special awards (Rs 10,000 each):

1. Player of the Match - Joginder Singh, Indian Railways

2. Best Goalkeeper - Senthamizh Arasu, Army XI

3. Best Defender - Jasjit Singh Kuler, Indian Railways

4. Best Mid-fielder - Syed Niaz Rahim, Indian Railways

5. Best Forward - Talwinder Singh, IndianOil

6. Player of the Tournament- Arjun Sharma, Indian Railways