Facile win augurs well for FCI

By S. Thyagarajan

CHENNAI, NOV. 29. Pouring rain and the forecast of a storm crossing the shores nearby proved no deterrent as matches in Pool C of the National hockey championship for the Rangaswamy Cup cruised along on the watery Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Wednesday.

Identifying the qualifiers, which probably is the aim of this exercise in various centres, is not proving to be a puzzle here anymore what with Air India, reckoned as a redoubtable combination on the national scene, making a mincemeat out of Kerala by pumping in a dozen goals.

Any thought of the proceedings slipping into a spell of mediocrity and monotony in the slumbering atmosphere was dispelled by the spirited display put in by FCI and Madhya Pradesh. If FCI slotted twice in the first half after some splendid work by Rajiv Panchal and Navbir Singh, M.P. hit back in style to draw level through Lakshman Yadav and Ramesh Kumar. FCI with three points from the match against Kerala was looking for a win to challenge Air India in the next encounter but the hopes looked belied at half time.

Rajiv provided the finishing touches for a move initiated by Prabhakar and carried on by Sudhir Minz on the flank. Then Navbir slotted a spectacular goal, making capital of a free hit through a deflection. The goal by Ramesh Kumar off Mohammad Aslam for Madhya Pradesh was a noteworthy effort.

The ball was not rolling well for FCI which held the whiphand in the second half. Prabhakar flunked a penalty stroke early in the second half after Rajesh Patra put his foot to a shot by Gajender Singh. The lead surfaced when Rajiv hit the board off a pass by Navbir.

Hardly had the cheers died down than came another, Sanjay sweeping the ball from a penalty corner in for what looked an unassailable lead. Navbir missed the stroke midway through but in the final minutes Gajender scored with a withering shot.

The outcome has put FCI very much in the reckoning with six points after three matches. For Madhya Pradesh it was the third successive reverse. In the other match, the whopping margin was not a surprise considering Air India's experience and expertise. A 4-0 lead at half-time was sufficient proof of the trend of the contest, as was the final tally.

With six points in two matches, Air India is virtually through to the final phase of the National at Jammu along with Tamil Nadu, unless something incredible occurs from now on till the final on Saturday. Tamil Nadu is slated to meet Air India on that day.

Vivian Raxquinha triggered the goal riot for Air India, for whom the veteran Edward Aranha was the top scorer with a tally of three. Cornelius D'Costa, along with Alex D'Souza netted twice, while Conroy Remedios, Roshan Tate, Devinder Kumar and Gavin Ferreira scored one each.

Thursday's match: Tamil Nadu v Kerala

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Indian Oil outwits Mumbai
Next     : Railways, Hyderabad qualify for final phase