: Indian Navy and Bengaluru Hockey Association opened their campaigns on a victorious note in the 93rd All India MCCMurugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament here on Thursday.
The Navy beat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN) 3-2 in Pool 'B' while the Bengaluru team outplayed Punjab National Bank 4-2 in Pool 'A'.
The opening match of the tournament between the Navy outfit and the home team saw the latter go up through a field goal in the 13th minute by K Selvaraj.
The Navalmen hit back strongly twice in the space of two minutes as Aakib A Rahim scored a field goal in the 15th minute and Kuldeep with a penalty corner conversion in the 17th put them ahead.
Joshva helped HUTN equalise in the 39th minute through a field goal before Palangappa scored the match-winner in the 43rd minute slamming home from a penalty corner.
In the other match, Bengaluru HA rallied from 1-2 down to pull off a 4-2 win over PNB, which is back in the prestigious tournament this year after a hiatus of two years.
Sumit Topo scored in the 18th minute before the Bengaluru outfit went ahead with strikes in the 28th minute (Harish Mutagar) and 45th minute (Prithvi Raj, penalty corner).
Later, Prithvi Raj increased the lead with another penalty corner conversion in the 49th minute.
Abhran Sudev gave the finishing touches with a field goal in the 58th minute.
Results: Pool 'A': Bengaluru beat Punjab National Bank 4-2; Pool 'B': Indian Navy beat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 3-2.
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