Bishnoi 'tricks' for BPCL

Former international Saurab Bishnoi scored a hat-trick, the first in the tournament, to help Bharat Petroleum drub Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers 8-2 and make the quarter-finals in the Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament in Mumbai on Friday.

In the first match of the afternoon, Central Industrial Security Force edged past Western Railway, Mumbai, 3-2, after leading by a solitary goal at half-time.

BPCL, who led 3-2 at the breather, totally outplayed their opponents in the second half.

Defender Bishnoi got all his three goals through penalty-corner conversions, in the eighth, 16th and 39th minutes while another international and skipper Sabu Varkey scored a field goal in the 44th minute.

Centre-forward Amar Aiyamma, who opened his team's account in the second minute of the match, scored two more goals in 46th and 52nd minutes while centre half Deepak Sharma scored one in the 45th minute.

RCF, who conceded a 3-0 lead within the first 16 minutes of the match, scored two quick goals through their defender Shakti Singh just before half-time.

For CISF, forward G V Xaxa drew first blood in the 18th minute through a field goal while Western's Gursev Singh converted a penalty stroke to make it one-all. The Delhi outfit regained the lead in the 55th minute when their forward Jai Paul sounded the board.