Talwinder Singh played a stellar role as Indian Oil beat Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) 5-4 via the sudden death penalty shootout in the final of the Gold Cup All India Hockey Tournament on Wednesday. Talwinder scored in regulation period which ended 1-all and then twice in the penalty shootout, once in the first set of five attempts of the tie-breaker and later in the sudden death to ensure Indian Oil lifted the coveted title.
During the final, Indian Oil took an early lead through Talwinder Singh, who scored from a rebound after BPCL goalkeeper Swinder Singh had blocked Affan Yousuf’s attempt.
The star-studded BPCL outfit fought back and managed to find the equalizer with Sher Singh scoring from a field effort in the 52nd minute and the match finished 1-1. The tie-breaker penalty shootout also ended in a 3-3 stalemate before Talwinder scored the crucial goal for Indian Oil in the sudden death.
In the penalty shootout, Indian Oil converted through Bharat Chikara, Talwinder and Simranjeet Singh, while Gurjinder Singh and Manpreet missed. BPCL scored through Lalit Upadhyay, Varun Kumar and Birendra Lakra while Mohammed Amir Khan and SV Sunil failed to score. In the sudden death, Bharat flopped with the first try for Indian Oil before Talwinder for the third found success to seal the victory. BPCL failed with both tries from Upadhyay and Lakra.
