Indian join BPCL in semis of Shastri Hockey

New Delhi, Oct 5 (UNI) Formidable Indian Airlines struck five goals in the second half to outplay Border Security Force (BSF) 5-2 to register their second straight win in Pool 'A' and made it to the semi-finals of the 17th Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here today.

Indian Airlines thus joined Bharat Petroleum who had alreday booked a semi-final berth. The match between the two will decide who will emerge as pool winners.

Trailing 0-1 in the first half after Varinderjit Singh scored for BSF from a penalty corner in the ninth minute, Brojen Singh restored parity in the 38th minute and mercurial Dhanraj Pillai and Jalwinder Singh put Indian Airlines in the lead scoring in the 46th and 51st minutes before Swaranjit Singh brace (54th and 62nd) made the second session a no contest.

BSF pulled one back in the 61st minute through Ranjit Singh.

In another match, Namdhari XI downed Air India 1-0 in Pool 'B' with Gurpreet Singh scoring the all-important goal from a penalty corner in the 26th minute.

Pool 'B' is wide open with Namdhari XI leading with four points.

Air India are a close second with three points and Indian Oil third with two points while PNB are at the bottom with one point.

Two matches -- Indian Oil VS Air India and PNB VS Namdhari XI -- are left to be played in Pool 'B'.

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