Army XI made a stunning comeback in the second-half, pumping in four goals, to hold Air India 4-4 and keep their semi-final hopes alive in the 117th Beighton Cup hockey tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Air India, defending champions Indian Oil and Punjab National Bank have already booked semi-final berths, while Army XI have to wait for the outcome of Thursday's match between South Central Railway and Indian Overseas Bank to know whether they will take the fourth semi-final slot.
Having already made it to the semis with two successive wins, Air India began their last quarter-final league match in aggressive fashion and took a 4-0 lead with goals from Arjun Halappa (14th, 46th minute), Birender Lakra (44th) and Joga Singh (51st) at SAI artificial turf.
But the Armymen bounced back after Elizer Lakra scored in the 55th minute.
There was no stopping them thereafter and they struck thrice through Mukesh Lakra (56th minute), Milam Muthappa (67th) and Chitranjan Singh (68th) to earn a creditable draw.
In an inconsequential match, Hockey Bhopal got the better of R C F Kapurthala 5-3.
The winners scored through Mubeenur Rahman (14th, 38th minute), Mehrajuddin (17th), Amir-ur-Rahman (43rd) and Osafur Rahman (62nd).
The Kapurthala boys reduced the margin through Karanpal Singh (26th, 60th minute) and Karanpal Singh (34th).
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