Four Goals in Four Minutes, Then a Semi-Final: Railways Face Navy and BPCL Meet Army in Chennai
Thursday in Chennai had everything. A hat-trick in the last four minutes. A team that thought it was through, then wasn’t. And by the end of it, the 97th Murugappa Gold Cup had its final four.
The drama came first. Punjab National Bank needed a big win over Indian Railways to steal the second semi-final spot in Pool A, and for 56 minutes it looked like they were heading out quietly. Railways led 4-1. Then Naveen Antil happened. Three field goals in the 57th, 59th and 60th minutes, a hat-trick out of nowhere, and suddenly it was 4-4.
It wasn’t enough. A draw kept PNB on three points, and Indian Army’s five points held up for second place in Pool A. Antil’s finish will live long in the memory at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium. It just didn’t change the table.
The last league game of the tournament settled Pool B. Indian Navy beat the Malaysia juniors 4-2, and they did it properly. Bhavin Kushalappa opened the scoring in the 8th minute, K Selvaraj restored the lead from a penalty corner on the half-hour, Pawan Rajbhar made it 3-1 in the 36th, and Nitesh stretched it to 4-1 in the 43rd. Malaysia pulled one back through Muhammad Aizat a minute later, but the game was gone.
Navy finish second in Pool B on eight points, unbeaten in their four games with two wins and two draws. That books them a semi-final against the defending champions.
Saturday’s semi-finals:
Railways v Navy, 4pm. Railways topped Pool A with 10 points from three wins and a draw, and they’re chasing a fourth straight Murugappa title. They beat Navy in last year’s final, so there’s a score to settle here. Navy, though, haven’t lost a game all tournament, and their 15 goals are the second-highest tally in the field.
BPCL v Army, 6pm. BPCL topped Pool B with 10 points and the tournament’s best attack, 17 goals in four games. Army scraped through Pool A in second with five points, and they’ll need to be far tighter than they were in the 4-4 chaos around them. For our money, BPCL’s firepower makes them favourites, but Army have already survived one shootout-style week. Knockout hockey doesn’t always follow the form guide.
The winners meet in Sunday’s final. After a league stage that produced a 5-5 draw, a 4-4 draw and a hat-trick in four minutes, don’t bet against Saturday producing something just as daft.
Related:
https://sportscursor.com/murugappa-gold-cup-semifinals-navy-malaysia-railways-pnb-29-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/murugappa-gold-cup-day-7-bpcl-navy-5-5-tamil-nadu-malaysia-iocl-army-28-october-2026/
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