Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd will meet Air India in the final of the 45th Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament after the former came through from Pool Y of the semi-final league stage on goal difference.
In their final league match, Bharat Petroleum, resting on the consistent efforts of custodian and man of the match Kuttappa, earned a hard-fought 2-0 win over Namdhari XI at the BHA-Mahindra Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
At the end of the league stage, BPCL, along with Namdhari and Border Security Force, ended with six points.
However, it was BPCL who made the grade virtue of having a superior goal difference of plus 6.
Pitted against tricky opponents, Bharat Petroleum, who made a bright start, struck through Hari Prasad and Joginder Singh while Namdhari, who just needed a draw from this fixture, paid the price for poor execution of penalty-corners.
The match was interrupted early in the second half due to a protest by the Namdhari team following the yellow card shown to their goalkeeper Swinder Singh after a scuffle with BPCL's Amar Aiyamma, who too was penalised.
During the temporary suspension Namdhari, facing a one-goal deficit, had their citadel unguarded for five minutes, playing without a goalkeeper.
Regrouping from there, Namdhari exerted enough pressure to create openings but were unable to get past Kuttappa, who was in inspired form. The decisive goal, which got BPCL through, was scored by Joginder in the 63rd minute.
In an inconsequential match played earlier, IHF Development XI edged out Army XI 3-2.
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