Prabhjot steers IOC into semi-finals

Chandigarh, Jun 10 (UNI) Sterling display by Olympian Prabhjot Singh, who pumped in seven goals, steered Indian Oil Corporation into semi-final from Pool B as they grounded Indian Air Force (3 Base Repair Depot) by 10-2 in the sixth edition of the Olympian Dharam Singh Six-A-Side Hockey Championship at the Sector 18 Hockey Stadium here tonight.

Displaying his dazzling form, Prabhjot Singh also performed hat-trick by scoring his team's third (5th minute), fourth (7th m), fifth (8th m) and sixth (15th m) goals in succession. He also scored his team's 8th (20th m), 9th (26th m) and 10th (30th m).

Jaswinder, Rajpal and Khushwant contributed one goal each to swell IOC's kitty. For Air Force Sanwar Ali drew the first blood by scoring in the second minute and Varinder got his team's second goal. With two wins and one defeat IOC qualified for semi-final.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) of Delhi maintained their slate clean as they ousted Rock Rovers by 10-7 , after leading 5-3 at half time. It was their third successive win from as many matches and finished their Pool B programme with an all-win record.

Amit was the pick of the lot for ONGC as he slammed seven goals, including four in a row. Harpal Singh, Rajdeep and Arun Rawat netted one goal eah for ONGC. For Rock Rovers, Navdeep gave an outstanding performance by scoring five goals, Gurtej and Devinder Kumar contributed one goal each for Rovers.

From Pool A, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala and Bharat Petroleum qualified for semi-finals.

In the first first semi-final, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited will cross swords with Indian Oil Corporation at 1830 hrs and later RCF are pitted against ONGC in the second semi-final at 1930 hrs.

In a pool A match RCF snatched full points at the cost of Central Industrial Security Force by 11-9 after trailing by 4-7 at half time. RCF's scorers were Gurpreet (4), Paramjeet (2), Deepak (2), Kuljinder (1), Gagandeep (1) and Sanjay (1). CISF reduced the margin through Naver Singh (4), Paver (1) and Cyril Ekka (4).

In the fourth match, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited defeated Namdharis XI by 8-3 to advance into semi-final.

Goal scorers for BPCL were Jarnail Singh (3), Tushar Khandekar (3) and Ravipal (2).

Balwinder (1), Dilbagh Singh (1) and Dilbagh Singh Jr (1) were the goal getters for Namdharis.

Meanwhile, Richard Charlesworth, along with his two sons Oscar and Hugo, witnessed the matches. Ric also had talks with Indian hockey captain Didar Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Rajpal and other players during his stay at the ground while his sons were practicing on the grass ground.

A skill test was also conducted by Devinder Kumar. Mini and Sub-junior girls were asked to hit the cone placed in front of the goal. Shivani Sharma emerged winner among twenty girls. She was presented a hockey stick.

UNI XC HS RJ AS2341