Indian hockey star Jugraj Singh, who met with a near-fatal car accident last September, returned to the field in style, scoring the first goal of the 21st Indian Oil-Surjit hockey tournament, which began at the Surjit hockey stadium in Jalandhar on Thursday.
While Jugraj, who led the PAP Academy, beat Indian Air Force, Delhi, 5-0, Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, beat EME, Jalandhar, 2-1, and CISF edged out ITBP 6-5 via the tie-breaker.
In the first match of the tournament, Jugraj scored the opening goal in the 26th minute through a penalty-stroke.
After wasting four penalty-corners, he converted the fifth with a drag flick in the 49th minute to add to his tally.
Surinder Singh scored twice in the 54th and 65th minutes before Sharanjit Singh completed the rout in the 68th.
In the second match, Surjit Academy went ahead in the 16th minute when Lakhwinder Singh converted a penalty-corner. But, in the 24th minute, Gurmit Singh equalized for EME. Hardeep Singh Jr. scored the match-winner in the 60th minute.
In the third match, CISF beat ITBP 6-5 via the tie-breaker after the teams were locked at 1-1 at the end of regular time.