Indian Air Force defeated Indian Navy 4-2 while Punjab National Bank brushed aside Air India 2-0 to enter the final of the 11th Oriental Bank Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday.
In the first semi-final, Air Force dictated the terms in the first half as Ajit Pandit drew first blood in the seventh minute. Harwant Singh (19th) added another to the tally before Sukhdev Singh (31st) gave his team a 3-0 cushion till the half time.
After change of ends, Navy fought back with successive goals through Pawan Rajbhar (43rd) and Gugraj Singh (60th) to make it 2-3.
But Air Force upped the ante and Varinder Singh struck in the 65th minute to crush Navy’s hopes.
The second match was a one-sided affair. Gurjinder opened the scoring for PNB in the 12th minute before Gagandeep Senior consolidated in the 23rd minute.
In the second half, Air India failed to put up a fight again as PNB held on to their lead till the whistle.
Final: Indian Air Force vs Punjab National Bank (2:30 pm)
