Favourites and defending champion Indian Railways crushed Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 4-0 in a Pool "A" match of the 91st All India MCC-Murugappa hockey tournament here today.
With a third straight win, the Railway men have almost made sure of a spot in the last four.
Karan Pal Singh set the ball rolling for the Railways with a goal in the fifth minute. Pardeep Singh made it 2-0 in the 10th minute as the reigning champion took control of the match.
Raju Pal struck on the 35th minute to make it three-nil. He added one more to the tally with a penalty corner conversion in the 42nd minute.
Railways chugged on in style with three convincing victories while HUT appeared to struggle against strong opposition.
In an earlier match in Pool "A", Hockey Bengaluru outclassed Punjab & Sind Bank 3-0 to brighten chances of advancing to the knockout round.
Hockey Bengaluru notched up a second straight win after being trounced in its opening game by holders Indian Railways, with enterprising play.
After a goalless first half, which saw the two teams create some opportunities, penalty corner specialist V R Raghunath broke the deadlock with a trademark strike to give Hockey Bengaluru the lead in the 49th minute.
Sandeep K Singh put the Bengaluru team further in front, by scoring on the one hour mark.
Rajkumar Pal found the net in the 66th minute to seal an emphatic victory for the team, which helped it stay in contention for a semifinal berth.
Results: Pool "A" : Hockey Bengaluru 3 (V R Raghunath 49th, Sandeep K Singh 60, Rajkumar Pal 66) bt Punjab & Sind Bank 0.
Indian Railways 4 (Karan Pal Singh 5, Pardeep Singh 10, Raju Pal 35, 42) bt Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 0.
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