India keeps its chances alive

Korea 2 Canada 1

Germany 2 New Zealand 2

India 2 Malaysia 1

By S.Thyagarajan

KUALA LUMPUR, FEB. 22. Amidst persistent drizzle and before a huge crowd, understandably rooting for the home team, India produced a performance that was a mixture of delight and despair before ensuring full points in the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament here tonight. With two wins in five games, India, with a match remaining against New Zealand on Thursday, has a chance of being among the last four.

For all the effervascence displayed today, there was no matching effect at the finish. It is a persistent failing here. As in the previous encounters, Dhanraj Pillay proved a terror to the rival defence. Support for him, not only came in the right measure from Dhillon but also from Mukesh Kumar. The trio wove intricate patterns around the Malaysian defence line. If Deepak Thakur had only shown a trace of opportunism, India could have finished the first part with a larger leeway. Even Dhanraj flunked a couple in front of the goal.

In the mid-field, the Indians were commendably controlled. Mohammad Riaz and Thirumal pumped in a neat stream of passes, while Saini showed no inhibition to joining the attack. He almost scored when moving with Mukesh, he darted in. But he could achieve only a feeble shot, which Suhardi Selamat saved. Tirkey and Nayak, the latter in particular were conspicuous in their work.

The Malaysians, who defended for the major part of the first half came up with some thumping raids. Nor Azlan Baker, who was policing Mukesh effectively, was the pick. Keevan Raj was another who gave the Indian defence some anxious moments. Not surprisingly, a fast break which Azlan engineered was carried neatly by Shaiful and Suhaimi Ibrahim completed the goal amidst vociferous cheers. Goal-keeper Prasad moved too much ahead to thwart the onrushing Ibrahim. Although the goal came against the run of play, it definitely perked up the Malaysian spirit.

India seized the initiative with a penalty corner goal by Baljit Singh Dhillon. The next good move fashioned by Mukesh and Dhanraj ended with Thakur not being in position to take advantage of. But close on half time, Deepak Thakur produced a peach of a goal. Fastening on to a incisive drive by Dinesh Nayak, he veered round two defenders and capped the effort with a superb backhander to the roof of the net.

Progressively, the Malaysian defence tightened up, thanks to some neat interceptions by Mainderjit Singh and Kuhen Shanmuganathan. Some of the tackles by Mainderjit Singh against Dhanraj Pillay were striking. Malaysia's first penalty surfaced midway in the second half. A firm shot by Kuhen was padded by Jude at the expense of another penalty corner. Minutes later Malaysia earned a stroke when Jude stick checked Suhaimi but brought off a splendid save from the push Kuhen. He brought another nice save from a penalty corner hit by the same player.

Tension slowly escalated as the Malaysians began pressing harder for the equaliser. Though well organised, there were signs of Indian defence under stress. The pace of attack was disconcerting. Some of the formations were threatening as they were thrilling, good work by Tirkey and one excellent interception by Riaz prevented the equaliser.

A heavy downpour delayed the resumption when Korea was leading 2- 1 at half-time. As a result the second match between Germany and New Zealand was shifted to the second pitch. The rain lashed the environs of Bukit Jalil for a little over an hour. Notwithstanding the interruption, the contest provided enough pulsating moments with Canada almost ending the day with honours even. A 69th minute penalty corner for Canada definitely heightened tension but Peter Milkovich was not exactly impeccable with his drive. That is unusual for the veteran striker of his standing and calibre.

Expectedly, the Koreans played with verve and palpable vigour but surprisingly frittered away quite a few openings and chances too. Two early goals by Kim Kyung Seok and Hwang Jong Hyun imperceptibly injected an element of complacency. The frontline looked a bit of out of its depth. There was distinct impression that the Koreans had not properly assessed the strength of their rival.

Canada showed in the second half a great measure of fortitude. The penalty corner goal by Peter Milkovich late in the first half gave the team a fighting chance. Rob Short and Bindi Khuller played havoc with the Korean defence. Although the Koreans were unlucky with Song and Jong Hyun being foiled by the upright and cross bar respectively in this half, the Canadian sallies in the last quarter, conceived well by the hard working Ken Pereira, gave definite visions of a drawn game. It was a pity that the team lost the services of two seasoned stars, Ian Bird and Peter Milkovich, owing to temporary suspension simultaneously midway through. But the fact that the Canadians fought the issue tooth and nail cannot be obliterated.

From the threshold of victory with a 2-0 lead shortly after the break, the Kiwis at last settled for a draw against Germany, the European Champion. This was New Zealand's second draw in the tournament, but the team's strength, style and system have not been fully reflected on the table of points. That the Germans had to wait till the final minutes to share points perhaps underscores the quality of performance by the Kiwis.

Brett Leaver slotted the lead from the fourth penalty corner and a field goal after resumption by Philip Burrows prompted many to forecast an upset of the first magnitude. Oliver Domke struck midway in the second half and a penalty corner by Florian Kunz helped Germany save the day without further damage to its pride.

Table of Points (read under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Korea 5, 4, 1, 0, 12, 4, 13; Pakistan 4, 3, 1, 0, 9, 5, 10; Malaysia 5, 3, 0, 2, 12, 9, 9; Germany 5, 2, 1, 2, 8, 10, 7; India 5, 2, 0, 3, 8, 9, 6; New Zealand 5, 0, 2, 3, 7, 14, 2; Canada 5, 0, 1, 4, 7, 12, 1.

Tomorrow's match: Paksitan v Germany (IST 3-35 p.m.)

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