Ekka’s Hat-Trick Fires BPCL Past SAI-NCOE 6-4 as Murugappa Day 4 Delivers a Ten-Goal Thriller
Ten goals, a hat-trick, and a comeback that kept falling one goal short. Day 4 of the Murugappa Gold Cup in Chennai had everything, and BPCL are now sitting pretty at the top of Pool B.
BPCL beat SAI-NCOE Bhopal 6-4 on Sunday, and Anmol Ekka was the difference. The young forward scored three times, and each one came at a moment when SAI-NCOE were threatening to drag the game back.
It started fast. Devindar Walmiki converted a penalty corner in the 11th minute, Ekka added another from a corner in the 14th, and Sudeep Chirmako made it 3-0 with a field goal in the 16th. Game over? Not quite. Mohammed Zaid Khan pulled one back in the 18th minute and Nitesh Sharma made it 3-2 in the 20th, and suddenly SAI-NCOE were right in it.
Ekka settled things, then settled them again. His second penalty corner in the 26th minute restored the two-goal cushion, and after Nitesh Sharma’s second goal in the 35th minute, Dilbar Barla’s field goal in the 44th made it 5-3. Nitesh completed his own hat-trick in the 49th minute to make it 5-4, and for a few minutes a draw looked on. But Ekka had the last word, sealing his hat-trick with a field goal in the 60th minute.
That’s two wins from two for BPCL now, six points, and 11 goals scored. SAI-NCOE, meanwhile, have just one point from three games, and their tournament is slipping away fast despite Nitesh Sharma’s hat-trick.
The second game of the day was a different kind of contest. Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu and Indian Navy played out a 1-1 draw, with both defences on top for long stretches. Pruthvi G M broke the deadlock from a penalty corner in the 31st minute, and Ashis Topno levelled it from a corner of his own in the 41st. Neither side could find a winner late on.
The draw leaves Navy on four points from two games, still well placed in Pool B, while Tamil Nadu have two points from three and need results to stay in the semi-final race.
Monday is a big day in Chennai, with three games on the card. Indian Army take on Punjab National Bank at 2:00 PM PKT, Hockey Karnataka face Indian Railways at 3:45 PM PKT, and then the Malaysia Hockey Confederation juniors finally get their tournament started against BPCL at 5:30 PM PKT. That last one is the one to watch. BPCL are flying, the Malaysians are fresh, and the Pool B table could look very different by Monday night. The semi-finals are set for 31 October, with the final on 1 November, so every point from here counts double.
