IOCL draw with Indian Army in Chennai leaves Army’s semi hopes undecided

On Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at the SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd held Indian Army to a 2-2 draw in a Pool-A match of the 97th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament, leaving Army’s semifinal prospects unsettled.

Indian Railways has already secured a semifinal berth from Pool-A, while Indian Army’s advancement now depends on Thursday’s match between Railways and Punjab National Bank (PNB). In Pool-B, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has qualified for the semifinals.

Sunil Yadav gave IOCL the lead in the 29th minute, converting a penalty stroke after Army’s Niraj Waribam impeded S.K. Uthappa with his stick near the goal.

Cyril Lugun levelled for Indian Army immediately, converting a penalty corner in the 30th minute off Rohit Irengbam’s delivery.

Army moved ahead in the 43rd minute when Jobanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke; the award followed Lugun’s drag-flick striking Vikramjit Singh’s leg on the goal-line as the defender prevented a certain goal.

IOCL drew level in the 49th minute through S.K. Uthappa, who finished a long through pass from V.R. Raghunath, and both sides wasted a penalty corner apiece in the closing stages.

Results from the pool stage were: Pool-A — IOCL 2 (Sunil Yadav 29-ps, S.K. Uthappa 49) drew with Indian Army 2 (Cyril Lugun 30-pc, Jobanpreet Singh 43-ps). Pool-B — Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 4 (G.M. Pruthvi 14-pc, Yojin Minz 23, 47, Patras Tirkey 26-pc) bt Malaysia junior team (Salihe Muhammad 15-pc, Karthikesan Shivamoorthy 60-pc). BPCL 5 (Varun Kumar 23-ps, Charanjeet Singh 25, 41, Anmol Ekka 35-pc, Sudeep Chirmako 42) drew with Indian Navy 5 (Sushil Dhanwar 6-pc, Pawan Rajbhar 34, 56-pc, Rajat Sharma 37, Rajat Minz 46).

Army’s path to the semifinals now hinges on Thursday’s Railways v PNB fixture, in which PNB must win by a seven-goal margin to advance ahead of Army; in Pool-B, Indian Navy need only a draw against Malaysia’s junior team on Thursday to join BPCL in the semifinals, while Malaysia must win to progress.