Defending champion Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) survived a fright against a tenacious Air India before winning 5-4 in a Pool-A contest of the 90th all-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament here on Sunday. Earlier, in a Pool-B match devoid of any action, Army XI managed to put it across Karnataka 2-1. Leading 3-1 at half-time and 4-2 midway in the second session, IOC was cruising along when Air India struck twice in as many minutes. With Vinaya darting in from the right and Halappa providing the passes, Air India penetrated IOC’s defence at will. Raghunath 3, 11, 47 & 65, Deepak Thakur 32) bt Air India 4 (Joga Singh 26 & 49, Gagandeep Singh 44, Vikram Pillay 51).

Source: The Hindu September 04, 2016 18:00 UTC