By Kamesh Srinivasan

JAMMU, DEC. 8. Class runs in the family. Anup Tirkey lived up to his famous brother Dileep Tirkey's name, by fetching the match- winner, as Railways put itself right on track for qualification from Group I with a 1-0 victory over Tamil Nadu in the super league of the 60th National hockey championship at the K.K. Hakhu Stadium here on Friday.

In another key encounter in Group II, Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) bounced back twice to draw 2-2 with Indian Oil, a result that is expected to keep the interest alive in the group.

There was no dearth of competition as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) subdued a spirited challenge from Karnataka with a 2-1 triumph, to enjoy the same status as Railways in Group I.

After going through agonising moments, despite dominating 55 minutes of play, Railways clinched the sole goal of the opening match, with Anup Tirkey converting the team's second penalty corner. The 21-year-old Anup, playing only his first National championship, came up with a sparkling drive that brooked little resistance from a defender's stick. It was only the continuation of his good work for Anup, who had fetched match-winners in the zonal league that saw Railways top Pool A.

The goal struck a disturbing note for Tamil Nadu as it had failed to capitalise on the advantage in the earlier 12 minutes when Railways was reduced to 10, as Dawood Suleiman had been given a yellow card for verbal abuse. Seconds after returning to the field Suleiman won the penalty corner, that eventually proved decisive.

There were three sharp chances in the first half for Railways. Suleiman struck the crosspiece with a swing from close quarters, while Chander Pal failed to tap a reverse shot from Jagmohan Singh after the latter had worked his way up with Lalit Ekka. Seconds before the whistle for halftime, a stinging reverse hit by Subal Kumar Barla was deflected away competently by a diving Tamil Nadu defender Dinesh Naik.

Subal Kumar Barla and J.R. Natarajan were in the thick of action for Railways for the rest of the match, but their attempt to be a little flashy with their finish and selfish in their approach undid the good work.

Tamil Nadu had all its stars, Thirumalvalavan, L. Prabhakaran and Senthil in their places, but their combined effort could fetch the team four penalty corners and little else. It was the only goal conceded by the team so far in the championship right from the zonal stage, and the team may pay heavily for it.

Lively encounter

It was a lively encounter for Indian Oil against Punjab and Sind Bank. There was not much to differentiate between the teams, and the result was a fair indication of their matching prowess.

Indian Oil struck telling blows through Prabhjot Singh and Kamlesh Kumar. Prabhjot capped a solo run on the left flank with a brilliant reverse hit even as he swerved in front of the goal to make room in the 14th minute of the first half. Kamlesh made a spectacular diving reverse hit to find the far corner of the goal in getting the 2-1 lead for Indian Oil.

However, as in the first case, when Kanwalpreet Singh found the target with a penalty corner flick in the 31st minute for the bank team, Baljit Singh Chandi capitalised on a rebound following the team's seventh penalty corner attempt by Sharanjit Singh, to bring parity.

Indian Oil appeared to be suffering from its first match blues, and its coach A.K. Bansal was quite upset about his boys not playing to potential and making basic mistakes. The team forced only one penalty corner, and the fact that it conceded both the goals on penalty corners should be a cause for worry. Both the goalkeepers Devesh Chauhan and Baljeet Singh were given a half each, but they could not make any difference to the fortunes of the team.

CRPF struck once in each half past the seasoned A.B. Subbaiah to score a comfortable victory, despite giving far too much freedom apart from a goal to Karnataka's Jude Felix and company. Skipper Tanveer Jamal scored the first goal in the 10th minute by converting the team's third penalty corner.

Karnataka clinched the equaliser through Mandanna who fell full- stretch in front in flicking into the net, after Prakash Chalke had done the groundwork on the left. Chalke was in fact very active, but lacked the conviction to convert the chances. In one such bad miss, Chalke shot wide from point blank range after getting past the goalkeeper.

Midway through the second half, Jolen Topno pushed in the match- winner for CRPF, after Prabhat Saini's shot had been blocked by Subbaiah. The Karnataka defence was caught napping, and not for the first time. Karnataka did play hard but the result in the form of two yellow cards for P. Shanmugam and Mandanna was not encouraging.

Air India strengthened its case with a 2-1 triumph over Hyderabad, after the teams were locked 1-1 at halftime. Cornelius D'Costa converted a penalty corner and Kishore Kumar made a gentle scoop in scoring the goals for Air India. L. Ramesh found the equaliser for Hyderabad in the first half, and the team could not retaliate after the second blow.