The Hindu : Tamil Nadu posts win

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 24, 2002

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Tamil Nadu posts win

CUDDAPAH, FEB. 23. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Pondicherry registered 2- 0 victories over Hyderabad, Andhra and Kerala respectively in the South Zone hockey championships at the District Sports Authority Stadium here on Saturday.

After a barren first half and three quarters of an hour into the contest, Saravanan thumped the ball in past a fallen Hyderabad custodian, who made a vain bid to ward off harm from a free hit perilously close to the D. Sharat Babu's reverse flick in the 57th underscored his side's superiority in a largely one-sided contest.

Karnataka hitman Sandeep Michael's fondness for the `spot,' continued in the day's second game. This time the centre- forward targeted the backboard from its vicinity off an indirectly converted penalty corner, the fourth his side got in just eight minutes of play. Midway through the match, the reigning champion led 1-0. Karnataka's carefully charted course in the 66th minute culminated in the Andhra custodian's protective gear. In padding away the ball, the goalie had overlooked the presence of Karnataka left extreme Hari Prasad, who made no mistake when pouncing on the rebound.

From the fledgling it was last year, Pondicherry's progress has been prominent. Against Kerala it made its presence felt in under 10 minutes from the centre-pass. Centre forward Delhi Ganesh made the most of a melee in the ninth to open its tally. After change of ends, right-in Dominic was at the right place at the right time, hardly a foot away from the Kerala goal- line. A fine-tuned pass gave him enough time to turn around, get the back-board well in sight and let loose a clean hit in the 42nd minute.

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