By S.Thyagarajan

DHAKA, MARCH 13. An amalgam of athleticism, adroitness and right approach contributed to exciting hockey in the Prime Minister's Gold Cup tournament here today. Victory sequence for India and Pakistan continued, perhaps expectedly, as another day was slotted into the record books.

Authoritative and assured for the major part, India ensured a place in the last four overcoming the heat and a spirited opponent in Japan from Pool A. Six points in two matches with a fixture remaining against the home team tomorrow, India has earned the slot regardless of the outcome on Wednesday. Pakistan produced a splendid show in the later part of the second half, displaying its renowned fluency against the fighting Egyptians to carve out an impressive win.

India had to encounter a good measure of resistance from Japan. Predictably, Japan's emphasis was on defence. At any given point of time no less than six were crowding in their circle. To a large extent they succeeded in their plan. For all the pressure exerted, India could do nothing more than inflicting six penalty corners in the first half. What more, India had to fight for the equaliser from midway through this session when a stray raid from a free hit scrimmage ended in Yamabori slamming in the lead. Late in the first half, Dilip Tirkey produced an immaculate penalty corner shot to enable India leave the field for breather with honours even.

Baljit Dhillon and Dhanraj Pillay shouldered the burden in the attack with enthusiastic participation by Prabhjot Singh and Inderjit Singh. Deepak Thakur is still below his best, although he cannot be accused of not striving to get into the rhythm.

India's struggle stemmed mainly from the inconsistent mid-field. Neither Arjun Halappa nor Bipin Fernandes exhibited the mode and methods needed to gain command in the area at this level of competition. They were palpably tentative as was Radhakrishnan field briefly. Thanks largely to the good work of Thirumal and Baljit Saini, and also from the co-ordination effected among Tirkey, Nayak and Barla in the defence, the frontline managed to exert enough pressure on the Japanese defence.

Shortly after resumption, India played on brilliant spell. Dhanraj and Dhillon broke through repeatedly. Goal-keeper Takahashi however was not easily subjugated. He stopped a blinder of a shot from Dhillon out of a penalty corner. Only a well conceived move that involved Deepak Thakur, Dhanraj and Dhillon could deceive him. And Dhillon eluded the defence neatly register the lead. Within minutes, Dilip Tirkey pumped in another perfect penalty corner drive to put the issue beyond doubt. But the Indian coach must ponder the fact that out of the 10 penalty corners, only two were converted.

There is as yet no confirmation about the chief coach, Cedric D'Souza taking over. According to the team management here, Cedric, who is in touch with the assistant coach, C.R.Kumar, daily, has been advised rest in Mumbai where he is under medical care. The expectation is that Cedric may be here for the semifinal on March 18. To be fair to the Japanese, it must be said they never gave up. With Tobita on the move, there was always a touch of danger in the moves programmed by them. But over emphasis on defence somewhat nullified their frontline thrusts.

The 4-1 verdict for Pakistan in Pool B masks successfully the combative qualities put forth by Egypt, whose strong points are power and pace. A measure of its domination in the match cannot be better substantiated than by the 10 penalty corners earned against the three by Pakistanis. Till winger Kaushif Jawaad gave the lead close on half-time, the Egyptians pressured the rival defence to no end. It was the agility of goal-keeper Ahmed Alam that kept the score-board blank.

Wing play by Haider Hussain and Kaushif Jawaad was a feature of Pakistan's attack. Mohammad Nadeem contributed his mite effectively to give the frontline speed and style. All these could be possible only because of the good work by the mid-field. Mohammad Usman, Saqlain and Waseem displayed the proficiency to keep the flow of moves, Usman was more conspicuous. Tackling the rivals with confidence, he brought off a splendid goal-line save when the alert Alam slipped for a second to a shot by Belal Ebrahim in a penalty corner.

Energetic and enteprising, the Eygptians evoked a lot of admiration for their effortless movements. Served commendably from the mid-field by El Moneim, who was the prompter for almost every move, the forwards, notably Belal Ebrahim and Gaballa, gave a tough time to the Pakistani deep defence. If only the goal- keeper, Oasama Hussain, been a bit more cautious from advancing too much to the fringe of the circle, atleast a couple of goals could have been avoided. He was excellent in palming the penalty corner shots by Sohail Abbas but was found wanting when the Pakistanis came in a combined raid.

Egypt was very much in contention after restoring parity shortly after resumption. Gaballa broke through delectably only to be obstructed by goal-keeper Alam. India's Vir Bahadur Singh awarded a stroke, a decision that did not go well with the Pakistanis. However, Adnan Al Sayeed stroked in. But Pakistan was back in the attack. Kaushif Jawaad flicked in a cross from Nadeem after goal- keeper had moved away from his charge. Not long after came the spectacular backhander from Nadeem, and close on time Haider Hussain netted the fourth when goal-keeper Oasama Hussain had moved far away from his position.

Irish delighted

There was something for the Irish to rejoice, and rejoice they did, after successfully holding on to an early goal by Justin Sheriff against Malaysia in Pool B. But strangely enough, the Malaysians were out of their depth and failed to make an impression despite forcing seven penalty corners in the first and one in the second. Initially, goal- keeper Subramaniam brought off two good saves from Justin Sheriff and it looked as though Malaysia would settle down. But that never happened and as the tie wore on there was noticeable desperation in the workouts leading to rough play. Shankar Shanmugam and Boon Huat Chua received temporary suspensions in the second half.

Wednesday 's matches (all times IST): China v Egypt (1.30 p.m.); India v Bangladesh (3.30 p.m.).