Sport - Hockey

Air India shuts out Punjab Police

By Special Correspondent

The Air India team which won the Aga Khan hockey tournament in Mumbai on Saturday.

MUMBAI MAY 18. Air-India's hockey squad is in a takeoff mode. Punjab Police learnt it the hard way, unsettled by two early strikes and then finding it difficult to catch up against a side adept at shutting out the match. A 2-1 victory in the final of 100th Aga Khan hockey tournament (sponsored by Bharat Petroleum) on Saturday was a back-to-back success in Mumbai, coming a fortnight after the Bombay Gold Cup victory.

The winner picked up a cheque for Rs. 1,25,000 and a trophy, the runner-up went home with Rs. 75,000 on the concluding day of a tournament revived after seven years.

Punjab Police, starting the final fired up with memories of goalkeeper Ashok Kumar's semifinal heroics against Indian Airlines, experienced an early body blow in the form of an eighth minute goal through Roshan Tete. AI skipper Davinder Kumar, later named 'Player of the final' sounded the board in the very next minute.

Jaskaran Singh fired home a direct penalty corner hit in the 22nd minute to infuse life into the match and clinch the `top scorer' award, but the expected fightback did not happen till the second half, by which time the local side had gained a grip over the flow of the game.

Earlier in a match to decide the third and fourth placings, Indian Airlines overcame a determined Oil & Natural Gas Commission 3-2 to pick up Rs. 50,000. The goals came from Y.S. Rawat, Abhinav and livewire Brojen Singh, later chosen the `best forward' of the tournament.

ONGC pumped in two through skipper and penalty corner ace Anurag Raghuvanshi and Mohammed Fahad respectively, the team pocketing Rs. 25,000. Western Railway bagged the `Fairplay Trophy' and Rs. 25.000 for picking up just two green cards in three league games.

International Anil Aldrin, out of the national scene after the 1999 Indo-Pak hockey series, played an influential role in AI's victory with almost faultless work in the defence and surprise overlapping runs to link up with his forwards.

He set up the first goal with a free hit near the rival 25-yard line, teammate Tete picking up the ball before a host of Punjab Police defenders could react and hitting in. It happened so fast that it looked like an extension of the well-rehearsed indirect penalty corner conversions AI execute regularly.

A minute later, skipper Davinder Kumar ran across to latch onto a pass on the right and fired an angular drive onto the boards. Punjab Police goalkeeper Ashok Kumar and the huge defenders were caught by surprise on both occasions.

Kishore Kumar had earlier punched a hole in the defence by picking up unmarked Davinder Kumar near the penalty spot with a clever drag pass in the fourth minute, but the latter, taking a moment to find his bearing with back to the goal, hit wide. Except for stray raids, the ball was in the police half till Jaskaran decided to take matters into his own hands and sounded the boards off the only penalty corner earned.

The pace picked up in the second session, AI conceding two more corners in trying to ward off spirited Punjab Police raids, midfielder Balwant Singh running all over to prompt his forwards. AI felt the heat, but closed ranks at the back and retained possession in the middle till the final whistle.

Punjab Police manager Manpreet Singh expressed his disgust at the inconsistency in umpire Daljit Singh's performance. "The least players can expect in the final of a major tournament is fair decisions, not incompetence,'' he said, adding that his team had intimated Tournament Director Puran Singh of their apprehensions regarding the same umpire after arrival in Mumbai. Shakeel Ahmed manned the other end with usual efficiency.

Special awards: Anil Aldrin, AI (player of tournament, Rs. 30,000); Jagdish Ponnappa, IA (best goalkeeper, Rs. 12,500); A. Aldrin, AI (best defender, Rs. 12,500); Balwant Singh, PP (best midfielder, Rs. 12,500); Brojen Singh, IA (best forward, Rs. 12,500); Jaskaran Singh, PP (top scorer with five goals, Rs. 12,500), Davinder Kumar (man of match, Rs. 7,500); Nitin Kumar, AI (Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai's most promising player, Rs. 5000); Jaskaran Singh, PP (best penalty corner hitter, Rs. 5000).

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