Indian Airlines, PSB sail into semis in Ranjit Singh Hockey

New Delhi, Mar 3 (UNI) Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) edged out Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) 4-3 to book their semifinal berth while Indian Airlines scrapped past South Central Railway 3-2 to reach the last four stage in the second All India Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Tournament here today.

Yasir Islam scored the only goal in the first half as PIA went into the breather with a 1-0, lead but a rejuvenated PSB pumped in four goals through Gurvinder Singh Chandi (38th minute), Baljit Singh Chandi (44th), Ajit Pal Singh (48th) and Parminder Singh (51st) in a span of 13 minutes to go 4-1 up and the game seemed over.

PIA, however, refused to give up and reduced margin through M Farooq (57th) and Amir Saleem (67th), but that was not enough to avert a defeat.

In another match, Brojen Singh's (22nd, 69th) brace helped Indian Airlines beat South Central Railway 3-2. Gurpreet Singh (15th) was the other scorer for the winners, while the Railway side reduced margin through Mayur Subbaiah (18th) and Johnson Ekka (57th).

UNI AY PDS KP1851