Tamil Nadu through

By Our Hockey Correspondent

TN 2 -- Indian Railways 0

Karnataka 2 -- Air India 1

CHENNAI, AUG. 19 The spring-like weather with soft rain now and then provided not only a pleasant atmosphere but also contributed immensely to the pleasing hockey played on Sunday in the Madras Cricket Club- Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium.

On the day, Tamil Nadu ensured the top place in Pool D with an authoritative win over Railways for a quarterfinal slot, and Karnataka turned the tables on Air-India, thus showing the exit door for Punjab Police in Pool B.

In an interesting situation, Karnataka required a draw or a win or even a defeat by less than two-goal margin to make the grade and keep Punjab Police out of contention. Karnataka achieved the ultimate: a win and full points to take the top spot in the pool. Karnakata drew with Punjab Police 2-2 and ended the programme with four points, while Air India had to be satisfied with the three points earned against Punjab Police which ended at the bottom with a solitary point.

There was a palpable verve in the workouts of Karnataka for which winger Anup Antony was the cynosure. Whenever this gangling forward moved up he spelt danger to the opponent. And sure enough, Air India defence fumbled conceding a stroke after Antony's effort was thwarted by goal-keeper Kamaldeep Singh. P.T. Ayyappa converted the penalty stroke.

Inspired by this early lead, Karnataka built up heavy pressure on the rival defence, thanks to the swift moving Anup Antony and Krishna Reddy. Immediately after the break, during which Karnataka led 1-0, came the second goal. It resulted from a splendid shot by Ayyappa with Suresh providing the finishing touches.

Desperate to arrest the slide, Air India made valiant efforts to transfer the pressure and succeeded in doing so when Davinder Kumar executed a firm shot: Arun Babu effected a grand save but Roshan Tate, lurking nearby, picked the ball and directed it into the boards.

Pleasing show

Tamil Nadu produced a pleasing performance, slotting in two splendid goals in the first half and retaining the lead throughout against the Railways. The outcome nullifies the reverse sustained by the team in the last National championship for the Rangaswamy Cup at Jammu last year.

Quite predictably, the tormentor of the Railway defence was the Asian gold medallist, L. Prabhakar. With his smooth workouts Prabhakar wove circles around the rival defence and slipped through time and again raising vociferous cheers from the crowd. Vimalanathan on the right, and Diwakar and Vinod from inside, contributed immensely to give the Tamil Nadu attack an element of mystery. The patterns were perfect and the symmetry exemplary.

Into the lead midway in the first half, Tamil Nadu maintained a fairly good grip on the proceedings almost throughout. Prabhakar darted in delectably but was baulked by goal-keeper Alex David. But off the rebound Diwakar hoisted the lead. Close on half-time, Rathakrishnan executed a deceptive shot from the fringe of the dotted line for the second goal.

Railways was far more authoritative in the second half. Skipper Jagmohan Singh worked hard as did Iqbal Singh to stretch the Tamil Nadu defence which conceded as many as five penalty corners. However, Tamil Nadu goal-keeper K. Rajesh rose to the occasion, effecting some smart saves. Tamil Nadu had three penalty corners.

Tamil Nadu coach Mohammad Omer and Senthil deserve praise for the manner in which they have welded the different layers to form a formidable outfit.

Tamil Nadu will take on Air India and Karnataka will meet Indian Railways in the quarterfinals.

Mr. K. Jothikumaran, secretary, Indian Hockey Federation, and Tamil Nadu Hockey Association, expressed the gratitude of the hockey fraternity to the State Chief Minister, Ms. J. Jayalalithaa, for allocating Rs. 4.7 crores in the State budget for sanctioning a new astro-turf at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium and for installing floodlights. Mr. K.P.S. Gill, president, IHF, also thanked the Chief Minister for the interest being shown for the development of hockey in the State.

Tamil Nadu Colt's team: Jotheeswarn, Rajarajan, Albert, Palani Vel Nathan, Manikandan, Praveen, Suresh, Nawaz, Ravindran, Youvan, Muruga Vel, Mahindera Singh, Gopi, Saravanakumar (captain), Kalaivanan, Fernando, Karthick and Charles. Coach: C.M. Samson, Manager: Chandrasekhar; Physio- therapist: Dr. Venkataramanan.

Monday's matches: Punjab and Sind Bank vs. Bengal (2-30 p.m.); Tamil Nadu Colts vs. Bharat Petroleum (4- 30 p.m.)

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