Date:22/11/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/11/22/stories/2004112208711800.htm

Sport - Hockey

PSB enters quarterfinals

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 21. Punjab and Sind Bank drubbed Afghan Club, Bahawalpur, Pakistan, 5-2 in its pool III super league match of the Nehru hockey tournament to make the quarterfinals at the Shivaji Stadium here on Sunday.

The Pakistan team lost both its matches and made an exit, while South Central Railway, Secunderabad, became the second team from pool III to qualify. PSB topped the pool with two wins.

In pool II, Bharat Petroleum and Namdhari XI played a 1-1 draw but both made it to the last eight stage. BPCL topped the pool with four points; Namdhari XI had two while Tamil Nadu XI had one.

In the quarterfinals, to be played on Monday and Tuesday, Bharat Petroleum meets Air India, Punjab Police plays Namdhari XI, Indian Oil takes on South Central Railway and PSB clashes with the Border Security Force.

PSB led 3-0 against the Bahawalpur side at the break. The bankmen added two more in quick succession immediately after the breather. But the visiting team rallied, expectedly through captain Asif Ahmed and striker Sameer Hussain. Hussain struck twice near the half-hour mark, off moves fashioned by Asif Ahmed. When Ovais Khan earned a penalty stroke for the Pakistani team, Samiullah was about to take it when, on crowd's demand, Hussain was tempted to go for his hat-trick. And he bungled, weakly pushing for the goalkeeper to bring off a save.

Jatinderpal Singh (penalty corner), Navpreet Singh (penalty stroke), Ravipal, Ajitpal Singh and Mandeep Singh were the PSB scorers.

Namdhari XI scored the equaliser, nine minutes from the end against BPCL in the other league match of the day. A draw suited both teams. The equaliser came following a penalty corner, with Gurcharan Singh scoring. For BPCL, S. S. Gill was the scorer, in the 20th minute of the match.