Ranchi, April 6: Jharkhand defeated MTNL, New Delhi, 4-0 in the first match of the All India BSNL Hockey Tournament at the Morabadi Grounds today.

The win comes after the home team had emerged as runners-up in the past three tournaments.

Jharkhand had an edge over their opponents from the beginning and did not let them gain any ground in the match. Goals for the Jharkhand team started pouring in from the second half, as the New Delhi defence literally collapsed .

Captain Marcel Tirkey of the Jharkhand team missed out on a hat-trick in the match but scored two goals, in the seventh minute and the 22nd minute, both admirable goals. The remaining two goals for Jharkhand were scored by Joseph Soreng in the 24th minute and Gabriel Topno in the 27th minute.

In the second match played at the grounds today, the Orissa team defeated their Rajasthan counterparts, 4-1. Displaying a brilliant ball game, N. Mohanty and Maga Munda scored two goals each to strengthen their position in the pool.

While Mohanty scored in the 21st and 29th minutes, Munda came out with his share in the 36th and 40th minutes. Badri Singh scored the solitary goal for Rajasthan through a brilliant first-time shot in the 45th minute . But by then, the match was out of their hands.

Andhra Pradesh emerged as winners in the last match of the day. They defeated a meek Bengal team by a 7-1 margin.

Tomorrow, seven matches are scheduled to take place. Fifteen teams from almost all of BSNL?s territorial circles are taking part in the tournament.