International Dharamvir Singh, fresh from his exploits in the Hockey World League (HWL) Final at Raipur where India secured the bronze, notched up a fine hat-trick to power Indian Oil to a facile 8-4 win over Mumbai Customs at the Dabang Mumbai 50th Bombay Gold Cup here today.
Roshan Minz, captain Deepak Thakur and S K Uthappa chipped in with a goal each, while Gurjinder converted two late penalty corners to round off the tally for the winners in the Pool D match.
Customs reduced the margin of defeat with Vikram Singh netting a brace and Harjeet Singh and Navneet Swarnakar scoring one goal apiece at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium.
The star-studded Indian Oil outfit, further bolstered by the presence of Dharamvir, V R Raghunath and Kothajit Singh who were all members of the national team in Raipur, enjoyed total domination against the disjointed Mumbai outfit.
The Oilmen opened the scoring when Dharamvir scored in the second minute and then 10 minutes later added the second.
Five minutes later Minz, with a feeble attempt, scored the third and in the next minute Thakur tapped in to get the fourth goal.
Dharamvir completed his hat-trick with a firm drive from the top of the circle in the final minute of the first half to give Indian Oil a commanding 5-0 cushion.
After the change of ends, the oilmen relaxed the pace which allowed their opponents to score four goals and avoid an embarrassing defeat.
In the fourth minute on resumption Customs earned their first penalty corner, successfully converted by Harjeet.
Indian Oil scored their sixth goal through Uthappa in the 43rd minute before Vikram Singh scored two quick goals within 7 minutes to bridge the deficit for Customs. Swarnakar further reduced the gap by hammering home the fourth in the 60th minute.
The oilmen put the issue beyond doubt when Gurjinder fired home two quick penalty corners to seal the win.
(REOPENS SPB 4)
Later in a Pool-A match played under lights, Central Railway recovered from 1-2 half-time deficit to overcome Army XI 4-2.
Centre forward Affan Yusuf scored two brilliant goals in the 15th and 63rd minutes.
In between those two goals Yusuf's teammates Narad Bahadur converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute and international Yuvraj Walmiki got the other in the 56th minute.
The Army side scored their goals through Chandan Aind in the 25th minute and Pawal Lakra in the 33rd minute.
