The Hindu : Sport : Hari Prasad does the star turn for Bangalore Lions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 02, 2006

Sport

Sport

Hari Prasad does the star turn for Bangalore Lions

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

SURGING AHEAD: Balder Bomans of Chandigarh Dynamos being tackled by Ajay Sroha of Bangalore Lions during the third final.

CHANDIGARH: Two electrifying goals by Hari Prasad lent poetic justice to a match that saw Bangalore Lions pitted against an inspired Chandigarh Dynamos, some questionable umpiring and of course a hostile audience in the third and deciding final of the ESPC Premier Hockey League here tonight.

The Bangalore lads closed the contest at 2-1, a result that only confirmed the fact that the best team of the competition emerged the champion.

Down to ten men as Rehan Butt was flashed the yellow card by umpire Bhupinder Singh for dissent, Bangalore Lions produced a stirring move that was initiated by the tireless Sabu Varkey with Tushar Khandekar giving it the required thrust for Prasad to latch on and smash the ball in from a difficult angle. A hush descended on the stadium as more than 25000 spectators realised that time had run out for their favourite team. Only two minutes were left but Chandigarh was no position to trigger off a comeback. The Bangalore lads had done their homework well tonight.

Inconsistent umpiring

Bangalore had every right to feel aggrieved as far as the supervision of this crucial contest was concerned. The umpires, Suresh Kumar and Bhupinder, were inconsistent and often Bangalore was left frustrated with the decision. No wonder Butt apprehended the overall quality of the umpires in this tournament. "It had been a wonderful tournament but I would appeal to the authorities to ensure that experienced and competent umpires are appointed for the crucial matches involving top teams," he had said just before the match on Wednesday.

The decider lacked the intensity that marked the first two finals between these teams but the goals that Prasad crafted were absolutely stunning and lifted the standard of the match for those crucial moments. His first goal came from a penalty corner rebound after Len Aiyappa flicked the ball to him and his rasping shot found the target with 13 minutes left for the second quarter. The first quarter has remained lacklustre as both teams committed unforced errors, losing the ball frequently. Bangalore was needlessly tentative even though Butt looked to create opportunities. The teams remained tense and the game was just not in tune with the expectations of the crowd.

Sore note

The second quarter had begun on a sore note when Ajay Saroha and Tejbir Singh, who worked hard upfront for Chandigarh, were sent off temporarily for needless show of temper. Here, Bhupinder deserved credit for quickly exercising his authority. Gradually, the game lost its momentum with rough play marking most of the session. Varkey continued to shine but Bangalore, which lost the reliable Ignace Tirkey to an injury in this quarter, failed to finish.

Mudassar Ali Khan made a brief appearance for Chandigarh and Sandeep Michael for Bangalore but play remained mediocre with the exception of some sound defending by Arjun Halappa and a stubborn Bharat Chetri under the bar for Bangalore. Of course, splendid team work for Bangalore also involved Prabodh Tirkey and Bimal Lakra in defence and some fine effort by Khandekar upfront.

Play was held up when stones flew at the Bangalore players and it needed a folded hands appeal from Chandigarh coach N. S. Sodhi for the crowd to relent. Aiyappa did not miss applauding Sodhi's act.

The eventful fourth quarter saw Sandeep Singh equalising for Chandigarh with a well-explored angle from the fifth penalty corner. And then came the incident involving Butt who flung his stick off the field in anger on being shown the yellow card. But a counter attack put Bangalore on the winning course with Prasad, the `player of the match', producing the goal of his life. The win fetched Bangalore Rs. 30 lakhs while Chandigarh earned Rs. 10 lakhs. Hyderabad Sultans received Rs. 6.5 lakhs for finishing third.

Didar Singh of Sultans was declared the `player of the series'.

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