Thumping win for IOB

CHENNAI, OCT 11. The semifinals of the All India inter-bank hockey tournament on Thursday at the SDAT-Radhakrishnan Stadium were one-sided.

Twice champion Indian Overseas Bank blanked Central Bank of India 7-0, while Canara Bank (Bangalore) rode past Indian Bank (Chennai) 4-1.

Today, CBI was outplayed by a team which has been playing at its best, never giving its opponent any sort of leeway. IOB in fact has impressed with its speed and skill.

The match was more or less decided in the first session itself with IOB leading 3-0, given the way the defending champion was performing. I. Gandhi sounded the board when he converted a penalty corner in the 7th minute. The speed and cohesion of the IOB forward line was best exemplified in the next two goals. Vimalanathan made no mistake when he took a pass from International M. Senthil from the right flank which was just inside the circle and pushed it home.

International Senthil lured the goalkeeper forward, after taking the ball from Gopinath, and scooped it over the custodian's head.

Though CBI matched IOB on speed, what it did not possess was the ingenuity of IOB forwards who combined exceptionally well as a unit. Sagar Kadam and Gavin Agvair made breakaway moves into IOB camp but only messed up within striking distance of the post. Sachin Godse who played a stellar role in CBI's win over Bank of India was somewhat subdued today.

IOB did not appear complacent at any point of time and kept getting better in the second session scoring four more goals. L. Anand made it 4-0 in the 53rd minute. CBI too had a chance to open its scoresheet in the 71st minute in the form of penalty stroke when V. Rajavetrichelvan stickchecked a forward, but a feeble shot from Glen D' Souza was easily put away by the goalkeeper Parthiban.

IOB did not look back as it added three more goals to its tally, all field goals coming from L. Anandan (53rd min & 67th) and Venkatesan (59th).

Another encounter between Canara Bank and Indian Bank proved to be no different from the earlier one. An ageing Indian Bank was no match for a fitter and a younger outfit as the former lost quite tamely. For Indian Bank, L. Prabhakar worked tirelessly, but none could respond adequately to the alacrity and dribbling skills of Prabahakar.

Canara Bank struck in the 13th minute when Kaverappa converted the penalty stroke which resulted due to Kalappa being brought down. Keeping up the pressure, Canara Bank unsettled Indian Bank by sheer speed, giving its defence some torrid time.

Ronald Kiran fired one in off a corner that beat the keeper all ends up. Kaverappa, it was once again, who struck in the 44th minute through a penalty corner when he scooped a ball home after getting a pass from Varghese John.

Indian Bank did well within itself, given its limitations, and it did have some goal scoring opportunities. The easiest it came to scoring when Joel Paul passed one to Prabhakar who could have converted it, but his hit only found the side of the net.

Ricky Ganapathy did not have a good time, missing several chances to see his name on the scoreboard and he also scored off a penalty corner in the 58th minute. With seven minutes to for the hooter, Indian Bank troubled the scorers when Dinesh pulled one back off the team's second corner.

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