The tournament, considered to be basis for selection of campers for the preparation of the team for the South African and Australian tours, started with an absorbing tie between Karnataka and Air-India.

The teams showed excellent stick-work and cohesion in their approach. However, it was Karnataka which drew first blood in the fifth minute through AK Kavin, who made it 2-2 after Air-India captain Kishore Kumar found a brace in the sixth and 16th minutes.

In the 47th minute, Arjun Halappa made it 3-2 for Karnataka but to their chagrin, Rajesh Chavan found the equaliser in the 62nd minute to split points in Group A.

In the other match (Group B), Tamil Nadu went ahead in the eighth minute through Rajendra Prasad. The hosts could have won with a bigger marginbut all their seven penalty corners went in vain. Services squandered two penalty corners.