Indian Oil join BPCL, IA in Shastri Hockey semis

New Delhi, Oct 6 (UNI) Indian Oil capitalised on the few chances that came their way and blanked Air India 3-0 to move into the semi-finals of the 17th Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here today.

Air India got as many as eight penalty corners, but Olympian Devesh Chauhan saved each time and remained unconquered till the final hooter.

For Indian Oil, who got three penalty corners, captain Deepak Thakur, Diwakar Ram and Bharat Chhikara scored in the fourth, 29th and 36th minutes.

The Oilmen now topped the Pool with five points, having drawn the earlier two matches, followed by Namdhari XI with four points from two matches while Air India were eliminated from the competition after two defeats.

Namdhari just need a draw from their last match against Punjab national Bank to make it to the semi-finals.

Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Indian Airlines had alreday booked semi-final berths from Pool 'A'.

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