Bhopal goes down fighting; Karnataka dazzles

By Our Hockey Correspondent

Haryana 1 -- Tamil Nadu 0

Delhi 7 -- Kerala 0

Air India 3 -- Bhopal 1

Karnataka 3 -- BSF 1

CHENNAI, FEB. 12. Even as the Junior National hockey championship is rolling towards the climax, more and more combinations, exhibiting skill, style and system, are getting into focus. Defending the title here at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, Air India faced a pretty tough challenge from the traditionally strong unit, Bhopal, whose flair and finesse need no over elaboration, in Pool-A on Monday. The margin, however, does not reflect the intensity which the Bhopal front-line displayed in the second half against the more balanced and well trained Air India.

What made the day eventful was the splendid performance of Karnataka in Pool-D against the Border Security Force (BSF) and the reverse suffered by Tamil Nadu against Haryana, which made it to the last eight. Karnataka needed only a draw to register a place in the quarterfinals.

Starting the match with a one-goal advantage Karnataka won, displaying superior craft and consistency to top the pool with nine points.

Air India gained immensely from the 2-0 lead it managed in the first half. Roshan Tete struck early enough to put the attack in a fast mode. Then close on half-time Deepak Kumar scored a peach of a goal. Undaunted by the course of events, Bhopal played to its potential, fashioning pleasing moves despite conceding one more goal to Roshan Tete who made good use of a pass from Parihar. But Bhopal's persistence paid in the end thanks to the endeavour of Fazah-ul Huq whose breathtaking reverse flick gave goal-keeper Amit Kumar no chance.

Karnataka, at this point, appears to be the champion material, The front-line trio of Dinesh, Sandeep Micheal and Ajay Ayyappa are the best on view so far, The co-ordination effected by these three was pleasing to behold. Scoring three goals against a side as strong as BSF is no easy task, but this the Karnataka lads accomplished with dexterity and ease.

An ingenuous move between Ajay Ayyappa and Dinesh culminated in the latter hoisting the lead. Then Dinesh and Sandeep Micheal combined well to enlarge the leeway and shortly after the break Suresh Kumar served a lovely pass for Sandeep Micheal to slot in the third.

More than a speck of rough play surfaced forcing the umpires to be generous with the cards. BSF's Amlok Singh had the mortification of being shown the yellow twice and the third went for Davinder Singh, who, interestingly enough brought off a splendid goal-line save of a shot from Dinesh. The lone goal for BSF came from Mukhjinder Singh from a penalty corner.

There were several grim faces on the Tamil Nadu bench this morning when the team failed to make the grade from Pool-F, succumbing to Haryana. All that Tamil Nadu needed was a draw after having won 8-0 against Madhya Pradesh on the opening day, while Haryana managed only a solitary goal win against the same opponent.

But Tamil Nadu cannot shift the blame on anything except itself for the manner in which the chances were frittered away. True, there was a trace of bad luck too when a shot by Karthik hit the post and caused alarm to Haryana defence in the early minutes. But the team was unable to capitalise on the seven penalty corners it forced, the last three in a space of seven minutes. Everything possible was conceived in their execution except the finish.

On the contrary, Haryana, showing no pretensions to style but placing faith on fitness and power, snatched the verdict close on half-time with a splendid goal by Sanjay Kumar. After receiving the pass from the right, he swerved delectably and finished with a thundering shot. Thereafter, Haryana defended the lead and succeeded in holding on to it. Haryana finished with six points in the three team pool.

Delhi opened its campaign with a comfortable win against Kerala. Buoyed by the first minute goal from Ajay Kumar, the Delhi boys escalated pressure and led 5-0 at half time. Ajay Kumar scored twice in the match along with Prabhakar Singh (2) and Bikramjit Singh (2) while Raju helped himself with a solitary goal late in the match.

Tuesday's matches: U.P. v Orissa (7 a.m.); Namdhari v Manipur (9 a.m.); Gujarat v Chandigarh (2 p.m.); Delhi v SAIL (4 p.m.).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Game's biggest sponsor smoked out
Next     : Mumbai drubs Vidarbha