Indian Oil Mumbai clinch 42nd Surjit Hockey title with 2-1 win

Indian Oil Mumbai defeated Indian Railways Delhi 2-1 to clinch the 42nd Surjit Hockey Tournament for the third consecutive time and seventh time overall. The final match of the tournament were held on Saturday evening at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium.

The winning team of the tournament was awarded the winner's trophy along with a cash prize of Rs 5.51 lakh. The runner-up team was awarded a trophy along with a cash prize of Rs 2.50 lakh. Talwinder Singh of Indian Oil team was declared the best player of the tournament. He was given a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh sponsored by Jalandhar Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur. Punjab Police team Captain and Olympian Harmanpreet Singh was declared the best scorer of the tournament. He was given a cash prize of Rs 51,000.

The final match started on a sombre note as a member of the Coaching Management of the Indian Oil team Digamber had passed away following cardiac arrest in a Jalandhar hotel this morning. The teams and the visitors observed one minute mourning for him at the start of the match. The Indian Oil teams had worn a black band on their arms as a mark of mourning as they played their final.

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema was the chief guest at the event. He said that 3000 playgrounds were being readied in the villages of Punjab to promote sports. He announced to give Rs 25 lakh to Surjit Hockey Society. On this occasion, famous singer Gulab Sidhu entertained the audience. Girls of St. Francis School Kartarpur performed giddha.

The final match was played at a very fast pace. In the third minute of the game, Gurjinder Singh of Indian Oil scored a goal through a penalty corner to make the score 1-0. Indian Oil was leading 1-0 at half-time. In the 34th minute of the game, Sunil Yadav of Indian Oil scored a goal through a penalty stroke to make the score 2-0. In the 52nd minute of the game, Simranjot Singh of Indian Railways scored a goal to make the score 1-2.

Deputy Commissioner Jalandhar Himanshu Agarwal, AAP leaders Pawan Tinu, Dinesh Dhall, Nitin Kohli, Rajwinder Kaur Thiara and Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi watched the final match at the stadium.