All eyes on DLW

BANGALORE, APRIL 28. Three of the four semifinalists - Northern, Rail Coach Factory (RCF) and Western - have the wherewithal to clinch the top honours in the 60th edition of the All India Railway hockey championship. But it will be the fourth - Diesel Loco Works (DLW) - which will be watched with interest, as the fight for the title round begins at the KSHA stadium here tomorrow, after a day's rest for both the organisers and players alike from the sweltering Bangalore summer.

DLW proved a point or two while snuffing the aspirations of the host- Southern Railway in the quarters. And as in its earlier outings the Varanasi outfit is expected to go all-out to make a match of it against the definitely superior RCF.

The likes of Lucian Khaka with his speed and body swerves need watching and with Sachin Khatri and S.K. Singh providing support in the forwardline the RCF defence would be hard pressed. But the Kapurthala team, last year's runner-up has easily looked the best in this tournament so far and one thing that has going for them is the sting in the penalty corner conversions wherein Tirbus Ekka has been a force to contend with. Tirbus, who notched the first hat-trick of the tournament in his teams 4-2 win over Central in the group B league match, displayed his lethal strikes when RCF needed it the most.

Also the lurking Anil Ekka and the versatile Walter have combined well in the frontline to pose a few headaches for the rival defences. Captain Jagmohan too has played his part well moving up at the slightest opportunity to bolster the attack.

Northern coming into the tournament as hot favourites has progressed this far thanks to the adroitness and adeptness of Ajinderpal Singh and Brijnav Singh. The two have time and again managed to rip through the defences with ease and it was the combination that spelt Central's doom in the previous round.

After a Hasrat Qureshi strike for Central, the Mumbai squad enjoyed the midfield advantage until Ajinderpal thought it befitting to stamp his class. The wiry central striker weaved his way into the circle to find Brijnav lurking for the strike to provide Northern the `golden goal.'

In the defence too Ranjit Singh and Sukhdev have complimented each other and with former India goalkeeper Ambuj Srivastava manning the last line of defence, the wall would be tough to crack.

Former champion Western Railway is the one yet to play to its potential. Mukthiar Singh, Deepak Gupta, Ingo Singh and Shanta Kumar have all got them the goals but one shudders to think the outcome if all of them come good. And the team has had tradition of a high order to safeguard, what with the likes of Balbir and Gurbux and a host of others, providing them something to emulate. The injured Allen Barla, if he takes the field could be a handful for the rival defence to keep at bay.

Against a determined South Central Railway, Western was in arrears until Deepak got the equaliser in the 67th minute to take the match into extra time. And there too it was in the last minute that Shanta Kumar scooped home a rebound to seal its semifinal berth.

The four contenders thus could provide the feast that the Bangalore hockey fans have been waiting for, come Saturday.

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