The triumphant Indian Railways outfit.
| Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
Defending champion Indian Railways subdued a youthful Indian Navy 3-1 in the final of the 96th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Sunday and completed a hat-trick of titles.
After a sedate start in the pool matches, Railways peaked when it mattered most: in the knockouts.
It was a lesson in spotting the weakness of the opponent and working out a plan and executing it to a T.
Realising that the Navy players are excellent in deflections through long and short passes from the 25-yard, dotted lines and the striking circle, Railways seldom allowed the rival strikers any leeway to unleash their shots. Such was the effectiveness of the Railways defence.
In all the four quarters, Railways held the upper hand, negating Navy’s counter-attacks with ease.
Eight minutes into the contest, Railways scored through Shivam Anand who scooped one to the roof of the net after receiving the pass from Gursahibjit Singh from the left. It could have been 2-0 for Railways towards the end of first quarter if not for Zameer, being the last man standing behind ‘keeper Sanjay Bhaskar, blocking a shot by Sayyad Niyaz Rahim.
Within minutes, Navy equalised through Aakib Rahim Arif who slotted it home from the top of the circle.
Thereafter, it was Railways’ show all the way. Pankaj Rawat converted a copy-book penalty corner shot in the third quarter and Niyaz Rahim’s fierce hit from the circle in the 57th minute made it beyond the reach of Navy.
Sunil Kumar Singh, who was the head coach of Railways for three straight time, was ecstatic. “It’s a huge achievement for us to have a hat-trick in such a big tournament. We improved after each match. We knew the opponent will be depending on the slap shot. We only had to make sure we block it once they enter the 25-yard,” said Sunil.
Railways received Rs. 7 lakh while Navy had to be content with Rs. 5 lakh.
M. M. Murugappan, chairman, CUMI and Chola MS, gave away the prizes.
The result (final): Indian Railways 3 (Shivam Anand 8, Pankaj Rawat 37, Sayyad Niyaz Rahim 57) bt Navy 1 (Aakib Rahim Arif 15).
Published – July 20, 2025 09:29 pm IST
