By S.Thyagarajan

EDINBURGH, JULY 22. Definite indications of contests intensifying into combats projecting power, strength, tactics and not to speak of individual skills, emerged clear as crystal as the second phase of the World Cup hockey qualifier went on boards on a glorious sunny morning here. That all the sixteen teams in the competition were on view in two pitches constituted a fiesta as it were for the enthusiasts.

It looks as though India is bound to pass though another bout of tension, anxiety and sleepless nights before joining the seven qualifiers for the next World Cup. The nemesis for India today came answering a glamorous Argentine name, Jorge Lombi. He had a four-in-a-row from penalty corners, left the Indian defence in a shambles. Impeccable, immaculate and imaginative, Jorge Lombi, with as many as 170 internationals and more, made profit on all the errors that the defence contributed to conceding penalty corners. So ineffective was Jude Menezes against this huge Aregentinian, who is a world class hitter of penalties, that coach Cedric had no option but to induct the reserve goal-keeper Devesh Chauhan. The latter did save a shot from Lombi, but conceded two more, the last coming when only 18 seconds remained from the hooter.

Any defence of India's performance today will be a travesty of truth. Barring patches and a semblance of a fight back in the second, there was nothing to commend. Far too many errors in the defence damaged the morale, the system and even the approach work, which continues to be nothing more than pedestrian. The usually consistent mid-field was nowhere near that, with Tirumal and Radhakrishnan fumbling often. Even the experienced Baljit Singh Saini was below par. The only saving grace was Bimal Lakra. But the power of the Argentine sallies was such that the defence often caved in or struggled to keep the pressure away.

In the frontline, Baljit Singh Dhillon was hard working but that was totally devoid of the flair he is known to display. The team lacked the thrust needed to stretch the Argentine defence. Daljit Singh Dhillon deserves the approabation for the manner in which he deflected two penalty corners to keep India in the fight.

When India levelled the score at 1-1 after Dilip Tirkey answered Rodrigo Vilas's first goal it looked as though an absorbing contest was unfolding. But the sheen of the equaliser lasted only a minute before Jorgi Lombi slugged in the first of the four to follow, leaving Jude Menezes bewildered by the pace and angle. The teams changed over at 2-1 but within minutes on resumption Lombi enlarged the lead. Devesh Chauhan came in for Jude Menezes.

India restricted the lead with a splendid goal deflection by Daljit Singh Dhillon, who swept in a push from Baljit Dhillon. Again Argentina went up, Jorge Lombi scooping in a penalty corner for a hat-trick. Daljit Dhillon again swept in from a penalty corner after taking the push from Arjun Halappa. At 4-3 with over seven minutes remaining, India was in with a chance to level and share points. But in the final minute a desperate move ended a penalty corner and Jorge Lombi slotted in the fourth with only second remaining. India's next opponent is Japan.

It is difficult not to recall the verdict in the previous two matches in the Sydney Olympics. India won the opening game 3-0 and then again in the contest for the seventh and eighth places.

In what can appropriately be described as eventful the contest between New Zealand and Belgium in Pool E sparked off a debate when two players were simultaneously awarded the red cards. This by the Australian umpire, Murray Grime, appeared somewhat unusual, when Hari Bevan of New Zealand hooked the stick of van den Balck sending the latter crashing on the ground with a bleeding injury. Murray Grime also attracted attention when earlier he disallowed a penalty stroke goal by Jean Willems.

It was a satisfactory result for Belgium which actually demonstrated a lot more verve and engineered a lot of action. Marc Coudron and Patrice Houssein were extremely prominent in the sallies and put the Kiwis under tremendous stress, especially after netting the equaliser through a penalty corner hit by Joeri Beunen.

Kiwis sluggish

The Kiwis were sluggish in their workouts. Save for the hard work by Ryan Archbald in the mid-field, the thrust in the attack was not visible. Till Philip Burrows struck deflected a penalty coner push by Bret Lever midway in the second half, the Kiwis were not finding their rhythm.

It was the Belgians who appeared to have lost in this part when a penalty stroke was disallowed. Wayne McIndoe appeared to have come in the way of the penalty corner that Joeri Beunen was converting. When umpire Murray Grime showed the spot everything seemed in order. Jean Willems hit the board and even as the announcement was in the air came the umpire's ruling that the execution of the stroke was flawed. Apparently, the umpire had thought the what Jean Willems played was not a flick but a sweep.

Belgium levelled from a penalty corner struck by Joeri Beunen midway in the second half.

Other results:

Pool G: Wales 1 (Paul Edwards) bt Bangladesh 0; Pool H: France 3 (Patrice Daleton, Sebastian Jeanjean, Nicolas Gaillard) beat Egypt 1 (Din Ahmen).

Docherty nets four

A splendid individual performance by striker Laurence Docherty brought Scotland from the spell of defeats on Saturday in Pool C. Chile is no doubt a name to conjure with in the world of hockey, yet the manner in which Scots retrieved a modicum of their prestige as host should be commended.

Laurence Docherty scored four goals while James Burns accounted for the other. In the final minutes, Chile reduced the margin through a penalty stroke converted by Felipe Monegu.

Spain swamps Japan

Spain overwhelmed Japan in Pool C with a comfortable win to take the top place with nine points. The winner led 2-0 at half-time. Jordi Quintana netted twice in the first quarter followed by Juan Escarre, Xavier Arnau and Pol Amat.