Beighton Cup 2016: Indian Oil thrashes BPCL 5-3 to emerge as champions

Kothajit Singh adjudged Player of the Tournament

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Victorious Indian Oil team with the Beighton Cup trophy at SAI after beating BPCL 5-3 in the final on Tuesday. Image Source: Xtra Time

Kolkata: Indian Oil emerged as the champions of 121st Beighton Cup Hockey tournament on Tuesday by beating BPCL 5-3 in the final played at the SAI astro turf. It was the fifth time Indian Oil has lifted the trophy. Goal scorers for Indian Oil were Gurjinder Singh (2), SK Uthappa, Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh. Amir Khan, Varun Kumar and Harmanpreet were the scorers for BPCL. Kothajit Singh of Indian Oil was adjudged the Player of the Tournament. The final was attended by the State Sports Minister Arup Biswas , former Olympian Gurbux Singh, SAI Eastern Region Director MS Goindi and MLA Sujit Bose.

The final was expected to be an even contest between the stars of yesteryears and the future stars of the country. It turned out be a one-sided affair as the senior pros from Indian Oil outplayed the BPCL team comprising mostly of upcoming stars. As many as 11 Olympians participated for both teams in the final.

Indian Oil was on the offensive right from the start of the match, earning two penalty corners in the first five minutes of the match. Gurjinder Singh gave Indian Oil the lead in the 5th minute of the match off a penalty corner. SK Uthappa extended the lead for his side, converting a pass from Raghunath in the 15th minute. It was Gurjinder striking again from the penalty corner for Indian Oil. Both sides went into the breather with the score line reading 3-0 in favour of Indian Oil.

BPCL, playing in European style showed some intent early in the second half. They got rewarded soon as Amir Khan scored a field goal in the 42nd minute. Varun converted a penalty corner to reduce the margin for his side in the 44th minute.

As it looked poised for the match to get more interesting experienced pros Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh scored a goal each for Indian Oil at 45th and 55th minute respectively. Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner in the 63rd minute for BPCL.

Former Olympian Devesh Chouhan was outstanding under the goal for Indian Oil as he saved three penalty corners in the match.

The final score line read 5-3 in favour of Indian Oil. Kothajit Singh was declared the Player of the Tournament.
According to Indian Oil captain Deepak Thakur, “They were playing in European style, but we thought it was better to adopt the Asian style as we cannot match their pace. We were waiting for them to press the panic button.”

Deepak will be seen doing commentary during the HIL.
Player of Tournament Kothajit Singh credited teamwork for the win. The hockey Olympian from Manipur is inspired by none other than Mary Kom.

According to Kothajit, “Her (Mary Kom’s) struggle to success is a huge motivation for me. She has been my biggest inspiration for me. I also admire Sarita Devi for her hard work and dedication.”