Indian Navy, having participated in the Beighton Cup thrice, reached the final of its 125th edition for the second consecutive time on Saturday, edging past Army XI by a solitary goal scored by Sunny Malik at the SAI Astroturf. 

They will have to overcome tough hurdles by winning against Indian Oil in the final on Sunday. 

Indian Oil humbled Indian Air Force 5-0 in another semi-final on Saturday to reach the final. Affan Yusuf scored the hat-trick while Povanna CB and Sudip Chirmako scored one each for the winner.

Ajay Kumar, the Indian Navy's coach who has been with the team as a coach for the last eight years is aware of the statistics that say the Indian Navy was beaten by Indian Oil in the KD Babu tournament around two months ago at Lucknow. 

He commented, "They are a strong team. They have several India international players. But we will not give up. I am expecting a thrilling final tomorrow."

The graph of the Indian Navy's recent success began in 2018 when the team won the Inter-Services tournament after a gap of 67 years under the guidance of Ajay Kumar. Then the team also won national championship. Since then the team’s performance has been more all less consistent. 

Before the Beighton Cup, the Indian Navy was crowned champion in the Mohammed Shahid invitational competition in Varanasi for a second consecutive time a month ago also. 

According to the coach, advanced strength training at the Indian Navy's modern gym is one of the key factors behind the success. Indian Navy has a state-of-the-art gym for its international medal-winning body-building team. The hockey team uses that gym. 

The coach explained, “Today strength and speed are the two main ingredients a player needs to master to deliver at the best level of the game. In Mumbai, we have a three-storied building where modern gym equipment is installed.” 

He added, "The players do extensive strength training there four days a week. We have only one junior India international, Sunny Malik. All others are young. But if you notice their strength and speed you can understand.” 

He added that the Indian Navy has also extensive training facilities including five Astroturfs. So the boys can train there throughout the year.” Jugraj Singh and Pawan Rajbhar from the Indian Navy have already been in the present senior national preparatory camp.