MCC Murugappa Gold Cup 2025: Tamil Nadu stuns Indian Army, IOC battles past CBDT

In a huge upset at the MCC Murugappa Gold Cup invitation hockey tournament, Tamil Nadu scripted an authoritative 5-1 victory over former champion Indian Army in a Pool-A contest at the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Friday.

However, the other two matches went largely according to the script with NCOE (Bhopal) beating Maharashtra 4-2 in a Pool-A tie as multiple champion IOC eked out a hard-fought 2-0 win over Central Board of Direct Taxes in Pool-B.

Tamil Nadu took the day’s honours with a splendid performance against an outfit that usually plays a solid brand of hockey. However on the day, the Army looked off-colour, its attack lacked sting, and its defence was lackadaisical.

TN, comprising seven players from the Centre of Excellence in Kovilpatti, created opportunities from the centre and the flanks, flummoxing the opponent to no end. The scoreline could have read worse for the Army side had TN converted its half-chances. 

Though Balachandar converted a brace, the host’s triumph was a complete team effort. The defence comprising G. M. Pruthvi, Y. Anand, and Patras Tirkey deserved applause for thwarting quite a few dangerous run-ins by Army. 

In the other matches, while NCOE had it relatively easy, it was a battle of nerves between IOC and CBDT. Till half time, both the teams battled hard without conceding a goal. However in the third quarter, Sumit Kumar struck gold when he deflected home a fierce drive from former Olympian V. R. Raghunath. Affan Yousuf pushed one into the net in the fourth quarter off a move from the right flank.