HUTN and SAI-NCoE play out 4-4 draw in Murugappa Gold Cup opener

Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN) and SAI-NCoE (Bhopal) fought to a 4-4 draw in the opening match of the 97th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup at the SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. The contest produced eight goals and featured multiple lead changes.

SAI-NCoE took an immediate lead when Rohit Singh scored in the first minute. HUTN responded with two penalty-corner conversions, B.P. Somanna in the sixth minute and Patras Tirkey in the 10th, to lead 2-1 at the end of the first quarter. SAI-NCoE drew level in the 26th through Nitesh Sharma, who dribbled along the left backline and flicked the ball over the goalkeeper into the top of the net.

Sumit Kindo restored HUTN’s lead in the 38th minute by deflecting Pruthvi’s flick from the 23-metre line into the right corner. SAI-NCoE levelled again shortly after when Nitesh’s drag-flick from Salman Lakra’s penalty corner was blocked by the goalkeeper, allowing Bhrat Kaushik to score off the rebound.

B. Sathish put Tamil Nadu back in front in the 42nd minute, deftly deflecting Patras Tirkey’s shot from in front of the goalkeeper into the net. SAI-NCoE secured a share of the points when Siddhant Singh converted a penalty corner in the 46th minute to make it 4-4.

The final scoreline was: HUTN 4 (B.P. Somanna 6-pc, Patras Tirkey 10-pc, Sumit Kindo 38, B. Sathish 42) drew with SAI-NCoE, Bhopal 4 (Rohit Singh 1, Nitesh Sharma 26, Bhrat Kaushik 38-pc, Siddhant Singh 46-pc).

Both teams split the points from the opening match of the 97th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup at SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, each taking one point from the draw.