Army XI, Bangalore, and South Central Railway, Secunderabad, entered the quarterfinals of the 44th Bombay Gold Cup Hockey tournament in Mumbai on Friday.
South Central shocked former champions Punjab Police, who gained a straight entry into the pre-quarters, 8-7 via sudden death after rallying from a 0-2 deficit in regular time to earn a meeting with local team Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for a berth in the semi final league.
Army XI also came back from behind to beat Air India, the local league runners-up, 3-1 and earn a meeting in the last eight with Bombay Customs who ousted UP XI 3-1 in another pre-quarter final tie.
In the fourth match of the day, Sikh Regiment Centre (Ramgarh) downed Karnataka XI 2-1.
The heroes for South Central were goalkeeper P K Pfokrelo, who effected the decisive save of the match by stopping Kuljit Singh's flick in sudden death 'strokes' duel, and Prabhakar Singh, who scored four goals in all - including two strikes in regular time.
Punjab Police took a two-goal lead with field goals by Bachitar Singh and Gabbar Singh in a span of three minutes midway through the first half.
Prabhakar Singh scored a field goal in the 47th minute to reduce the margin before converting a 'stroke' awarded in the 55th minute to help SCR restore parity in regular time.
In the Army XI-Air India clash, Ramesh Kumar converted a penalty stroke in the 32nd minute to help the airmen lead 1-0 at half-time before the former stormed their way to the finish line by pumping in three goals in 15 minutes in the second half.
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