By S. Thyagarajan

EDINBURGH, JULY 19. Creative and crafty, even charming in phases, but condemnably awful in finish, India suffered the humiliation of a reverse and entered a grey area on a grey afternoon here in the World Cup qualifier hockey championship at the Sports Centre in Peffermill today.

Aesthetics and adeptness are successful twins only when chances are seized with the end of the stick. And for India, this was one failing, which may hurt it much more than what many imagine now of the status of it as the once super power.

With three points in the kitty after a laboured 2-1 victory over Wales on Wednesday, India shares the table with the same opponent which won against Egypt in an eventful contest that cannot be projected as a good advertisement for competitive hockey. That seven yellow cards were flourished in the contest is proof enough of the chaos that was on view on the field.

When India takes on Egypt for the final match in Pool A on Saturday, a victory is a must for an entry into the second stage. Even assuming that Egypt is out of the race with two defeats in as many matches, it is a volatile opponent, unpredictable but talented enough to cause an upset. Interestingly, India won 8-0 in their last meeting, the semifinal at the Prime Minister's Gold Cup tournament Dhaka in March this year.

India's reverse generated a lot of commiseration from the seasoned critics, who were witness to those halcyon days when our sports ethos were integrated with success in hockey. Now there is a great danger of India not making it to the World Cup, like what is happening to Brazil in soccer! India is an eight- time gold medallist in the Olympics, and the only outfit of the 16 here that has not won a World Cup before.

A wrist injury in the last match to Barla paved the way for Kanwalpreet Singh to get a full game, and he distinguished himself well. Arjun Halappa came in for Gagan Ajit Singh in the initial phase. Actually, everything was rolling well for India. The mid-field worked with harmony but the frontline progressively got bogged down inside the circle, mainly through over elaboration.

Prabhjot Singh was conspicuous in all the sallies but none of the two Dhillons, Baljit and Daljit, was anywhere near constructive. The penalty corner drills were woefully unprofessional in execution. The chances, no doubt were there, but the shots at the goal were so weak that even a third division goalkeeper would have blocked them without much ado. Micheal Deven, who did the guard today, was far stronger to cave in for such weak shots.

India had two penalty corners within the first quarter, but Tirkey's attempt and then by the Dhillons were futile. The Kiwis determined to put in a good show here, were far more organised, defended with tenacity, and went into attack with a fervour that was admirable. Bevin Hari and Umesh Parag assisted brilliantly in the mid-field by Ryan Archibald kept the pressure on the defence, and succeeded a minute before the first half. Ryan Archibald deflected in a penalty corner delectably to hoist the lead on which the team hung for the rest of the contest to ensure a place in the second stage.

India's comeback in the second-half too appeared bright, with several moves threatening to break the Kiwi resistance. Prabhjot Singh darted in dangerously several times without adequate support from the Dhillons or Gagan Ajit Singh. The chief coach, Cedric, shuffled the squad quickly, but the success was not in sight.

A reverse flick by Baljit Dhillon missed the target by a hair's breath. Midway through, a well-conceived sally involving Prabhjot Singh and Gagan Ajit, culminated in the latter producing a weak hit which goal-keeper Micheal Bevin saved with aplomb.

India had six penalty corners against the five by the Kiwis. There were two in the second for India but both were frittered away. Even 30 seconds before the hooter, a brilliant raid by Prabhjot Singh presented an opening but Arjun Halappa failed to meet the ball. What an agonising end it proved to be.

Sensational contest

In ways more than one, the Wales-Egypt contest, can be described as sensational. After taking what looked a very comfortable lead of 2-0 at half-time, Egypt lost focus on resumption, got into a labyrinth of fouls, and paid a very heavy price. Two goals by Nagy Mohammad - one from a penalty corner and the other off a pass by Wahid Mohammad - gave the Egyptians a comfortable time at the break.

But the second-half proved a disaster. There were quite a few heavy tackles and unsavoury incidents on the ground. Mohammad Walid and skipper Yesser were given marching orders as was Allister Carruthers. Tension mounted when Simon Organ slugged in a penalty corner flick. Egypt was unlucky at this point when a shot by Nagy Mohammad hit the cross piece and spun into play. But then the game degenerated. It was the turn of Zak Jones, Wales skipper, and El Sayed and El Shahat to take the yellow.

Interestingly, England's umpire, Hamish Jamson was confused by the number worn by El Shahat and gave him a red card. It was then realised that the Egyptian was sporting No. 7 on his shorts and No. 11 on the back of the shirt. Earlier, No. 7, Yesser, had been given a yellow. How the Technical Officials allowed such lapses on the field will have to be taken note of by the Tournament Director, Roger Self.

Amidst all the confusion, Egypt got the fifth yellow card in the match when Samesh Metwally received one. Reduced to just eight on the field, Egypt found defending the lead a difficult task. Paul Edwards hit in a penalty and three minutes from end, Simon Organ, arguably the best of the Welsh players, slotted the match winner.

Predictably, the Egyptians were upset by the outcome, put the blame for the deterioration on umpiring by Hamish Jamson and Argentina's Marcelo Servetto.

The placings in Pool A, where India is struggling to find a route to the second stage are somewhat intriguing. New Zealand with six points and four goals for and one against has already moved up. Interestingly, India which beat Wales, not only now shares the points but the goal difference as well but on aggregate the latter is ahead at four against the two by India. Wales has conceded four and scored four, while India's figures are 2-2. Egypt with two defeats has conceded six goals against the three it has scored for figures of minus three.

Easy win for Canada

Canada obtained its first win in two matches in Pool D with a comfortable margain against the United States. The winner led 4-0 till the last 10 minutes when United States came back and hit two goals to constrict the margin.

With three full points out of one victory in two, Canada has a match against Russia. It is likely to be the second team after Poland from this group into the second stage.

Paul Wettlauffer put the Canadians ahead followed by two goals by Ronnie Jagdey. Interestingly, Ronnie's father, Shiv Jagdey, is the current coach of the United States team which includes a couple of Sikh players. Ken Pereira was the other scorer for Canada while Binh Hoang and Patrick Harris netted a goal each for the United States.

Poland moved into the last eight after the Russians put up some stiff resistance in Pool D. Arthur Mikula put the Poles ahead, follwed by Thmasz Choczaj and Rafal Grotowski. For Russia, Alexandr Krasnoiartsev netted in the 64th minute.

Spain became the third team after Argentina and New Zealand to move into the second stage. Spain overwhelmed Chile by nine goals to nil.

Spain beats Scotland

Scotland put up a fighting display against Spain before going down, 0-2, in a Pool C encounter, in the last match on Wednesday.

Jordi Quintana scored first from a penalty corner and late in the match Spain added to the score when Xavier Ribas netted the second goal.

Friday's matches: Argentina v Belgium (2.30 p.m.); France v Bangladesh (4.30 p.m.); Russia v Canada (7.30 p.m.); Poland v United States (9.30 p.m.).