MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup 2025: Railways wallops HUTN; IOC beats Malaysian National junior team

Perhaps for the first time in the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN) provided a ray of hope that it could enter the knock-outs. 

Starting with a draw against Maharashtra, TN then sealed a huge win over Indian Army in its second match, followed by a thrilling draw with SAI-NCOE (Bhopal), giving the belief that the host might make it to the semifinals.

But the defending champion Indian Railways did the host no favour, with a 6-0 thrashing here on Tuesday to maintain a winning record.

Later in a Pool-B tie, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) put it across Malaysian National junior team 2-0 through goals from Gurjinder Singh and Sumit Kumar, both coming off penalty corners. From Pool B, Malaysia is out of contention along with Central Board of Direct Taxes.

With five points and a goal difference of -2 from its quota of four matches, TN’s chances of making the last four depends on how the other two teams in contention fare — NCOE (four points from three matches) and Army (three from three) — in their last group matches.

Braces from former international Gursahibjit Singh and Pankaj Rawat ensured Railways complete the rout. However, it was Gursahibjit who was instrumental in the champion team’s triumph. Railways opened its account towards the end of first quarter. A poor aerial pass from TN defender G. M. Pruthvi found striker Darshan Gawkar, who passed it to Gursahib. He hoodwinked two defenders and slammed a backhander home. Pankaj doubled the lead through a scorching grounder off a penalty corner. 

The third goal for Railways resulted from a defensive lapse on part of the host. HUTN Patras Tirkey’s pass was intercepted by Gursahibjit who did the rest. Railways scored three quick goals in the fourth quarter to demolish HUTN.