The Hindu : Indian Airlines makes quarterfinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 21, 2002

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Indian Airlines makes quarterfinals

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI APRIL 20. Indian Airlines put a stop to Corps of Signals' campaign in the 40th Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament with an emphatic 5-1 pre-quarterfinal victory on Saturday.

The result earned it a quarterfinal berth against Karnataka XI in the bottom half of the draw.

Tata Sports Club downed Central Bank, another local side filling up the blank created by Border Security Force's withdrawal, by an easy 3-0 margin in the first match of the day. Seven of the nine goals were field attempts, highlighting the efficiency of the forwards in breaking open defences.

The potency in Indian Airlines' attack, despite the absence of experienced striker Mukesh Kumar, heralds trouble for subsequent rivals. Y.S. Rawat, Altaf-ur-Rehman and Samir Dad struck the field goals after penalty corner specialist Dilip Tirkey put the side ahead with thundering direct hits off the first two corners. Corps of Signals replied with a goal in the closing stages through Suresh Kumar, but it had more to do with individual enterprise than teamwork.

Altaf-ur-Rehman's 43rd-minute strike was a breathtaking effort, the tall IA striker showing glimpses of body swerve and power which forced rival teams to keep a close eye on him in the past. Receiving a short, forward pass from Rawat near the 25-yard line, he took on the Signal defence, snaking his way past two to move into empty space towards the left and then scoring with a swift reverse hit.

Goalkeeper Kuldeep Singh, taken unawares by the speed with which the IA striker broke through, did not have time to rush out and stood rooted on the goalline as the ball flew past, still climbing due to the power in the shot when it crashed into the net.

Signals conjured a superb field goal in the 68th minute, but by then the battle had been lost. Pawan Varma broke through on the left flank, tapped the ball up to the goalline before taking one defender in his stride, evading huge goalkeeper Ashish Ballal's charge with a timely reverse flick to his right. The IA defence was still in disarray when Suresh Kumar, following the move, tapped the ball into an empty net. Dilip Tirkey, leading IA in their first match of the tournament, sounded the boards with direct hits off the first two penalty corners.

Signals was a man short as this stage with G. Prasad getting the yellow card. IA applied pressure at this stage and it worked. Rawat netting IA's third goal in the 30th minute, with a wristy shot across goalkeeper Kuldeep's body from right to the left corner. Samir Dad netted the fifth, finishing off the move created after a quick passing bout with Altaf to get past the Signals defenders in the goalmouth.

IA used the cushion of a three-goal lead to experiment, trying out different players in the midfield and forwardline. Ballal had an easy day under the bar, though the ease with which Signals opened up the defence on the left to pull one back was an indication of the holes in the defence needed to be filled.

Tata Sports Club, playing its first match after benefiting from a walkover in the first round, went into the lead in the 34th minute, Madan supplying the pass for Naved Ali to deflect in, then put the ball within range for Raju Bagade to hit in the second (52nd minute). Asad Khan hammered in the third goal (55th) with a top of the box shot.

The results:

Indian Airlines 5 (Dilip Tirkey 2, Y.S. Rawat, Altaf-ur-Rehman, Samir Dad) bt Corps of Signals 1 (Suresh Kumar).

Tatas SC 3 (Naved Ali, Raju Bagade, Asad Khan) bt Central Bank 0.

Sunday's matches: Punjab & Sind Bank vs Bombay Customs; Air-India vs Oil & Natural Gas Commission.

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