Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 4 : In a spirited final, Indian Railways won the 94th All India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament 2023, crushing Hockey Karnataka 5-2.
The chief guest, the state minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Udhayanidhi Stalin, presented the Gold Cup winners trophy to Indian Railways, along with a cash prize of Rs 7 Lakh. The runners-up, Hockey Karnataka were presented with the Silver Cup and recieved a cash prize of Rs 5 Lakh. The match was played at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Sunday.
Speaking on the occasion, M M Murugappan, chairman, CUMI and Chola MS General Insurance, said, "We would like to congratulate the winners and the runners up, who displayed both courage and skill in the tournament and we hope to see you all back next year. We have increased the prize money this year to show our support for hockey. Let's hope this tournament inspires more people to join the national championship."
In the well-contested final, Railways took an early lead, two minutes into the game with Pratap Lakra scoring the first goal through a PC. Thrishul Ganapathi equalised soon in the 17th minute with a penalty corner. Pratap Lakra, who went on to win the Man of the Match, scored two more goals in the 24th and 29th minute through a PS and PC respectively.
At the end of the second quarter, Indian Railways led the match 3-1.
Indian Railways increased the lead in the third quarter with the two field goals scored by Ajit Pandey in the 36th minute and Deepak in the 42nd minute, making it 5-1 for the Railways.
In the last quarter of the match, Chethan Karisiri from Karnataka scored a field goal in the 52nd minute.
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