Navy ousts Railways on penalties to reach 97th Murugappa Gold Cup final
Indian Navy eliminated defending champions Indian Railways in the first semifinal of the 97th all-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup at the SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, winning a penalty shootout 4-2 after a 2-2 draw in regulation time. The result ended Railways’ bid for a fourth consecutive title and sent Navy into the final.
Railways entered the match as the reigning champions aiming for a fourth straight Murugappa Gold Cup, while Navy arrived having finished as runners-up last year. Navy prevailed in the shootout with goalkeeper Ankit Malik playing a key role. Railways converted just one of the eight penalty corners it earned, whereas Navy scored from its only penalty corner.
The opening quarter produced no goals before Yogesh Singh put Navy ahead in the 27th minute, converting Abhishek Topno’s penalty-corner delivery with a drag-flick. That effort gave Navy a 1-0 lead at half-time.
Railways levelled in the third quarter when Pratap Lakra scored from a penalty corner in the 39th minute. The visiting side then took the lead in the 55th minute through Atul Deep, who scored off a rebound after goalkeeper Sanjay Bhaskar had blocked Lovepreet Singh’s close-range attempt.
Navy forced the shootout with three minutes remaining when K. Selvaraj converted Sanjit Toppo’s long diagonal pass in the 57th minute to make it 2-2. In the shootout Navy converted through Ashis Topno, Sanjit Toppo, Yogesh and Kuldeep, while Rajbeer Singh and Darshan Gawkar missed for Railways, giving Navy a 4-2 shootout victory.
In the other semifinal Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) beat Indian Army in a shootout after a 1-1 draw; Akshay Dubey scored for Indian Army in the 27th minute from a penalty corner and Anmol Ekka equalised for BPCL in the 55th minute from a penalty corner, with BPCL winning the shootout 4-1 to advance to the final.
With Navy and BPCL both winning their semifinals, the two sides will meet in the final of the 97th all-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup.
