It was ironic that Indian Army’s forward Sumeet Pal Singh, easily one of the best strikers of the 94th MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup All-India hockey tournament, hit a shot wide in sudden death that enabled Hockey Karnataka to win the semifinals 4-3 here on Saturday. In regulation time, Karnataka and Army had scored a goal each.
The victory ensured Karnataka’s title-clash against Indian Railways, which earlier shut out Punjab National Bank 3-2 in another last four clash.
In the shoot-out, both teams were tied 2-2 each, and in the ensuing sudden death, S.V. Sunil and Nikin Thimmaiah scored for Karnataka. For Army, Jobanpreet Singh converted but Sumeet hit it just wide despite wrong-footing the ‘keeper.
