Indian Oil defend Beighton Cup Hockey Championship

IndianOil lifted the 123rd Beighton Cup Hockey Championship Title on Saturday for the second consecutive year on Saturday at Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex. IndianOil beat Punjab National Bank 2-0 in the final. Karajwinder Singh drew first blood in the 41st minute while Gurjinder Singh converted a penalty corner in the third quarter to double the lead.

Deepak Thakur, IndianOil's coach was content naturally. Speaking to The Bridge he stated, "I am happy with the boys' performance right from the beginning of this season. They have started on a perfect note. The reflection of our performance is clear as we completed the seventh final this season already."

Deepak pointed out at his junior players' consistency saying, "The team has a mixture of youth and experienced players this season. The experienced players like Raghunath, goalkeeper Indronil have been able to maintain their consistency as expected. But I am truly pleased to have watched our juniors like Vikramjit, Pankaj, Pawan who had tremendous enthusiasm and performance this season so far."

Commenting on Beighton Cup's legacy, the former Indian international lamented saying, "Beighton Cup has a great inheritance. We are really happy to have been able to retain the 123rd Beighton Cup title. But at the same time, Union sports ministry should give little more focus on such a glorious tournament like Beighton Cup." Deepak also congratulated Hockey Bengal for organizing the tournament successfully.