Sunday, Dec 22, 2002
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National Games
By V.V. Subrahmanyam
The Punjab (left) and Haryana teams which won the men's and women's hockey titles respectively in the National Games in Hyderabad on Saturday. — Photos: P.V. Sivakumar
In the women's final, defending champion, Haryana, outplayed a disjointed Jharkhand for a 4-0 win while, Punjab recorded a surprisingly, comfortable 3-1 win over Maharashtra. Contrary to the expectations, the men's final turned out to be a largely, one-sided affair as Punjab produced the deadly blend of robust play with skills to outplay Dhanraj Pillay-led Maharashtra. It's strategy of creating some sort of fear in the Maharashtra defence by rough play worked well. And, the presence of eight Olympians in Punjab ranks, perhaps, was just too much for the opponents. The way captain, Baljit Singh Dhillon, led from the front with excellent support from schemer, Parminder Singh, and Daljit Singh on the left-flank was an object lesson for any youngster in the art of creating goal-bound moves from nowhere. Punjab shot into lead in the sixth minute with Kanwalpreet Singh converting a penalty-corner. But for a couple of brilliant runs from Dhanraj Pillay and the ever-trying Shanta Kumar on the left-flank, Maharashtra rarely threatened the Punjab defence which was effectively manned by Jugraj Singh and Kanwalpreet Singh. Within a minute into the second session, Punjab made it 2-0 with Ajitpal Singh latching on to a rebound from the goalkeeper of a hard-hit from Gagan Ajit Singh from close range to find the target. Only a splendid variation in the penalty-corner conversion saw Maharashtra reduce the margin in the 45th minute. When Girish Pimpale took the push-in, Dhanraj Pillay quickly relayed the ball hack to him who sidestepped on the right side of the circle to essay a carpet drive from acute angle into the goal. But that turned out to be the last real class effort from Maharashtra. On the other hand, Punjab netted the third goal when Gagan Ajit Singh slammed in a perfect centre from the right flank by Prabhdeep Singh in the 49th minute. After that Maharashtra never really was in the game though Prabodh Tirkey, Pondali Bellary and Vikram Pillay did combine well for some good moves. But every time they ran into a rock-solid defence to return empty-handed. The main problem for Maharashtra was Dhanraj Pillay being efficiently marked by Baljit Singh Saini and Jugraj Singh and he did nothing exceptional today. Earlier, Services scored a 4-1 win over Karnataka to settle for bronze with Ajay Kumar netting twice and Cyprian Aind and Ignatius Tirkey striking once each. For the loser, Anup Antony reduced the margin. In the women's final, Haryana was just too good for the Jharkhand. If one thought Jharkhand would put up a good fight, they were surprised by the lack of cohesion and thrust upfront. With the exception of striker Adline, who was the only one who threatened quite a few times to beat the strong defence, there was nothing much to rave about her team. The only consolation was that they didn't let the rivals score in the first-half. But, overall, Haryana combined class and experience of international Mamatha Kharub to telling effect. And she found in an admirable foil Jasjeet who matched her both in speed and skill. In fact, it was Jasjeet scored the first goal in the 51st minute which gave the needed impetus to the Haryana forwardline. Within 13 minutes, Jasjit scored after a fine solo effort as she dribbled down the right flank into the striking area and in one action flicked the ball to the extreme left of the goal with a touch of class. Suddenly, Jharkhand defence was under intense pressure. And predictably it caved in with Mamatha taking charge. In the 64th minute, Mamatha was quick to place the deflection of the goalkeeper Marita into the goal. Within seven minutes, Mamatha was in the scoring act again to seal the rivals' fate.
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