Arvind Kumar stars in Bihar's win

By Abhijit Sen Gupta

HYDERABAD, NOV. 28. Bihar defeated Andhra 2-1 in a Group A league match of the 60th senior National hockey championship here on Tuesday. The match was originally scheduled to be held on the first day of the tournament but was postponed owing to Bihar's late arrival.

The original schedule had Tuesday as a rest day but since the above match could not be played on the first day, the rest day was utilised.

Although the match did provide some good moments, especially in the first half, there was a lamentable inadequacy of co- ordination in execution of penalty corners by both teams.

In the initial stages, Andhra put up a good show. David Noble showed his speed and stickwork and created several dangerous moments for the Bihar defence. On one occasion he worked the ball into the semicircle and drew out the goalkeeper Chetri but his shot was saved on the goalmouth by defender P.S. Purthy.

But against the run of play Bihar got its first goal. A stickcheck by an Andhra defender on Arvind Kumar resulted in the umpire awarding a stroke and it was converted by Arvind Kumar himself.

But even after the setback Andhra continued to dominate. A few minutes after conceding the goal, Andhra got a chance to equalise but Rajesh Babu's powerful drive from the top of the semicircle was well palmed away by Chetri.

However Andhra did not have to wait long and in the 29th minute it got the equaliser when Harshavardhan intercepted a weak pass by Bihar's G. Purty. The Andhra player worked the ball up and in towards the centre before passing to teammate Sekhar Babu who made no mistake. The first half ended at one all.

After change of ends it was Bihar which showed more initiative. It got some good attacks going along either flank and had it not been for wayward shooting, it could have pumped in more goals. One of the main culprits was J. Dung Dung who squandered at least three open chances. Dung Dung, who has been a key member of the team for a few seasons, seemed totally off colour today.

But he was not the only player to miss opportunities. Early in the second session a beautiful move between Vijay Topno and Theophil Barla split the Andhra defence and the ball was eventually given to Arvind Kumar to finish the job but the latter ended up pushing the ball out from point blank range.

A little later Arvind Kumar went on a solo run dribbling his way past a host of defenders and upon reaching the striking area, let fly a power packed shot. But Andhra goalkeeper Tagore Babu brought off an equally good save by diving to his right to block the ball.

Bihar got the match winner just three minutes before the end. Vijay Topno who had done a good job in the second session laid the foundation for the goal by working up the right. He passed to an unmarked Arvind Kumar and the latter had all the time to trap the ball, line up his shot and blast it into the top of the net.

Wednesday's matches:Indian Railways vs ITBP (7-30 a.m.), SAIL v Bihar (1 p.m.), Hyderabad v Andhra (3 p.m.).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Air India on cruise control
Next     : CISF lets Karnataka off the hook