Murugappa Gold Cup Day 5: Army Hit Six, Railways Leave It Late and BPCL Stay Perfect
Three games, three very different stories, and the semi-final picture is starting to sharpen in Chennai.
Indian Army produced the day’s big scoreline. They beat Punjab National Bank 6-2 on Monday, and they did it the hard way early before running away with it. Dhariyashil Jadhav opened the scoring in the 15th minute, Ankush doubled it six minutes later, and Cyril Lugun’s penalty corner made it 3-0 at the break. PNB pulled one back through Naveen Antil, but Army answered with three more, including Lugun’s second corner in the 48th minute. Abhimanyu’s late goal for PNB only made the scoreboard kinder.
It matters because Army had been stuck. One win, one draw and one defeat from three games is not the record of a side cruising into the last four, and this win keeps them right in the Pool A fight. PNB, meanwhile, are still looking for a first win, and their goal difference is now the worst in the pool.
The second game was the opposite kind of hockey. Railways and Hockey Karnataka played out three goalless quarters at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, and it took a 59th-minute penalty corner from Simranjot Singh to settle it. Railways 1-0, three more points, and a perfect record intact. Karnataka defended superbly for 59 minutes and got nothing for it. That’s the cruelty of a tournament like this, and it’s why Railways look like the team to beat in Pool A. They don’t need to play well to win.
BPCL closed the day the way they have closed every day so far. Sudeep Chirmako scored inside three minutes against Malaysia’s juniors, and that was that. BPCL 1-0, three wins from three, and top of Pool B. Malaysia’s youngsters, only days removed from lifting the Sultan of Johor Cup, fought hard for an equaliser and never found one. They have games in hand after a late arrival in Chennai, so don’t write them off yet, but BPCL are setting a pace nobody else in the pool has matched.
Railways lead Pool A with nine points from three games, Army sit second on four, and Karnataka and PNB have two each. Indian Oil, on one point from two games, play Karnataka on Tuesday and could yet shake the whole pool up.
BPCL lead Pool B on nine points, with Indian Navy second on four from two games. Tamil Nadu and SAI Bhopal are both still chasing a first win, and Malaysia’s juniors have only played once.
The tournament doesn’t pause. Indian Oil face Karnataka at 3:45pm PKT (4:15pm IST) on Tuesday, and Malaysia’s juniors take on SAI Bhopal at 5:30pm PKT (6:00pm IST). The semi-finals are on 31 October, with the final under lights on 1 November. On Monday’s evidence, Railways and BPCL are the sides everyone else has to catch.
Related links:
https://sportscursor.com/railways-1-0-karnataka-simranjot-murugappa-gold-cup-day-5-27-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/murugappa-gold-cup-day5-bpcl-malaysia-army-pnb-26-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/murugappa-gold-cup-day-4-bpcl-6-4-sai-ncoe-ekka-hat-trick-26-october-2026/
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