India Colts, BPCL make semis

And while the bankmen were much stronger physically, they lagged when it came to skills. Ranjodh Singh gave PSB the lead in the 11th minute but Jai Karan equalised in the 11 minutes later. The Colts then scored twice within four minutes to go with a 3-1 at half time.

Post break, though, PSB came back with renewed vigour and were rewarded almost immediately, Gurvinder Singh Chandi reducing the margin in the 39th minute. But a penalty corner conversion by Diwakar Ram — the only one for the Colts — again put them ahead. The Colts were then content trying to defend their lead and keeping the ball in their own half. Mandeep Singh reduced the margin but they were unable to breach the opposition defence.

Second straight win
In another match, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) too booked their place in the semi-finals after their second consecutive win in the quarter-final league, defeating ONGC XI 2-1. All three goals came off penalty corners. After a barren first half when both teams were content gauging the opposition, BPCL went into attack mode and took lead through Gurpreet Singh in the 45th minute. KH Jayanta Singh equalised four minutes later but Gurpreet scored the winner for BPCL.

In the third match of the day, South-Central Railway beat Bangladesh President’s XI 5-3. Mayur Subbaiah scored thrice while Prabhakar Singh and Amit Shrivas scored one each for the winners while Sheikh Mohammad Mannu scored a brace and Rimon Kumar Ghosh one for the visitors.

They next play ONGC XI for a place in the last four.