Railways, IOC set up finale after winning semis of Women’s Inter-Departmental Hockey Nationals

Railways and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) set up a repeat of last year’s title clash, winning their respective semifinals at the 4th Hockey India Women’s Inter-Departmental National Championships here on Sunday.

Domestic powerhouse Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) beat Sports Authority of India (SAI) 4-0 in the 1st semifinal while IOC beat Central Board of Direct Taxes 4-1 to reach its second successive final at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

As the two unbeaten sides in the competition so far, RSPB and IOC were favourites coming into Sunday’s games.

Packed with current and former India players and with 36 goals against its name already before the semifinal, RSPB took time to settle down against a stubborn SAI defence. It took a moment of brilliance from Neha Goyal to break the deadlock in the 20th minute and thereafter, Railways took control of the game, dominating the 2nd half.

Later, IOC had a contrasting start, taking an early lead in the 1st minute itself through Jyoti but Jaspreet Kaur equalised eight minutes later, converting a penalty stroke.

Three more goals in the first half, including a brace by player of the match Mumtaz Khan, put IOC in control. Although CBDT tightened its defence in the latter half to deny any more goals, IOC, who had scored 26 goals before this, had done enough to book its spot in Monday’s final.