Title contenders BPCL were forced to swallow their pride as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a spirited Punjab National Bank in the opening fixture of the 87th all-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the MRK Stadium here on Thursday.

BPCL, who were deemed as one of the pre-tournament favourites alongside such heavyweights as defending champions ONGC and Air India, took the game by the scruff of its neck and soon found themselves in the ascendancy when Pundalik Bellary put his team ahead in the ninth minute.

The ball ricocheted off the Bank’s team goalkeeper to Bellary, who was only left with the simplest task of tapping the ball in.

BPCL gradually began stamping their authority and what had the makings of a goalfest quickly transformed into a battle of attrition.

PNB had a lot to thank their ever watchful goal-keeper Jasbir Singh, for had it not been for a string of fine reflex and acrobatic saves they would have gone into the break with the outcome irreversibly in favour of BPCL.

PNB shrugged off the disappointment of going a goal down and played with steely resolve that was evidently lacking for the better part of the first half.

BPCL on the other hand knowing full well that a one-goal cushion was too slender a lead to guarantee a win put the pedal to the metal by raiding their opponents’ ‘D’ incessantly. Except that the elusive second goal they were craving for didn’t come.

Drag flicker Jitender Saroha of PNB came within a whisker of opening his team’s account in the 46th minute when his thunderous effort missed the target by a few inches.

However, that didn’t prove be a costly miss as barely a few seconds after that slip-up substitute Bangali Xess dived full length to nudge the ball past the outstretched arms of BPCL goalkeeper to restore parity. The coach of PNB, A.K. Bansal, was understandably bursting with joy on the sidelines.

With the clock ticking down fast, BPCL threw caution to the wind in the hope of finding the decisive winning goal but their efforts didn’t yield the desired result and had to settle for a share of the spoils.

In the floodlight match, the star-studded Air India, coached by the legendary Dhanraj Pillay, began their quest for the title by dishing out a 4-0 mauling to a substandard Indian Railways.

Billed as a contest between David and Goliath, Air India unmistakeably demonstrated the gulf in class whenever an opportunity presented itself.

Air India’s V.S. Vinaya neatly converted the second of their PCs in the fourth minute to give his team a well-deserved lead.

Surprisingly, a well-oiled AI team, boasting of the players of the calibre of ace Indian team forward Shivendra Singh and former national team captain Arjun Halappa, had only that solitary goal lead to show for all the dominance.

Their patience was finally rewarded in the 55th minute when Joga Singh doubled the lead. Four minutes later AI were all but assured of the win when striker Shivendra Singh, who looked a tad off-colour got into the goal-scoring act by unleashing a stinging backhander.

Results: BPCL 1 (Pundalik Bellary) drew with Punjab National Bank 1 (Bangali Xess), Air India 4 (V.S. Vinaya, Joga Singh, Shivendra Singh, Vikas Pillay) bt Railways 0.

Action today: ONGC vs Indian Overseas Bank (4 pm). IOC vs All India Customs (5.45 pm).

Senior inter-district hockey

The second Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu senior men’s inter-district championship will be held at Tiruchy from September 13 to 16.

The state team for the national championship, to be held in Bengaluru from September 23, will be picked from the Tiruchy event.

Meanwhile, open trials to select the Chennai team for the inter-district event will be conducted at the YMCA ground on Sunday.