Favourites to the fore

By Our Special Correspondent

DIPHU (ASSAM), MAY 20. Favourites called the tune and the pretenders kept dancing till the end. The holder Manipur and last year's runner- up Bengal began their tune up to the summit clash on May 29 with run away victories in the opening quarterfinal group league matches of the 8th senior National Women's football Championship at the Karbi Anglong Sports Association ground here on Saturday.

Manipur, playing in its typical all-out attacking game, pumped in 10-0 against last year's semifinalist Kerala in a group E clash. Bengal scored only five goals without reply against Orissa as it preferred to take things easy in the second half of the group F tie. The highlight of the day was a hat-trick by Bengal and India striker Sujata Kar.

Kerala was very unlucky to play the defending champion in the first game. Seeing a lot of changes in the lineup from the one that made it to the knockout stage last year, Kerala was stunned by a first minute strike by S. Rani Devi.

By the time the game was three minutes old, Kerala was down 0-2, what with the short and stout Manipuri striker Tn. Tababi Devi in terrific form. Kerala goalkeeper P. Sunitha was a nervous reck by the time the game was not even five minutes old. The Manipuri attack come in waves smashing everything in sight. As luck would have it, the shooting of the Manipur players was a lot less effective than its play on the field. Kerala opted to change the goaltender bringing in T. Shyja who too was so nervous that she could not grip the first few shots properly.

Kerala regrouped its defence pulling back its midfielders to assist the defence. This worker and Manipur was not given a clear look at the goal. The Manipuri tactic too changed as long-rangers began to pepper the goal. O Bem Bem Devi unleashed a 25-yarder in the 14the minute for the third and L. Chaoba Devi slammed home a 27-yard freekick five minutes later. Sh. Rani Chanu made it 5-0 in the 23rd minute before relaxing till the half time.

Kerala was neither adept in man marking or in zone marking. And a well-drilling team like Manipur would take full advantage of this. Bombardment continued as Sh.Shanti Devi (66th), Chaoba (72nd), K. Lokeshori Devi (75th), Tababti (76 th and 79th) completed the rout. Kerala needed to win against Goa and Maharashtra to stay in the contest.

Bengal played with full force till halftime before pulling out two of its regulars to try out two youngsters from the bench. By the time the game was 11 minutes old, Sujata Kar struck twice to sew up the game. Orissa, missing its ace striker Sradhanjali Samantaray owing to a leg injury, found it difficult to mount any meaningful attacking forays. Sujaya completed her hat-trick in the 31st minutes Sayanti Nandi made it 4-0 in the 35th and took Bengal into the breather.

Sayanti scored for the second time three minutes inside the second half. Satisfied with the cushion, Bengal coach Sukla Dutta tried new combination. This helped Orissa saw the ball more and it should have reduced the margin in the 65th minute when a penalty was awarded to it.

But Kalpana Sahu, normally an accurate shooter, sent the ball wide to sink the team's morale further low. Orissa would play Assam and Meghalaya next. Only wins against these teams would keep its chances of making it to the knockout semifinals alive.

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Section  : Sport
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