Date:13/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/13/stories/2008021356092200.htm

Sport - Hockey

Loyola Whites emerges triumphant

Principal Correspondent

CHENNAI: Loyola Whites won the first South India inter-collegiate hockey tournament for the Rev Fr. G. Francis memorial Trophy at Loyola College here on Tuesday. It beat St. Joseph’s College of Commerce (Bangalore) 2-0 in the final.

It was a dominant performance by Loyola Whites. The host went ahead in the very first minute through a penalty corner conversion. Raja’s withering shot rebounded off goalkeeper Mervyn Sebastian and straight to Kousikan who made no mistake.

Loyola used the wings quite imaginatively but couldn’t enhance the lead. St. Joseph’s, with seven players from the Dhanraj-Ballal Academy, was unable to force the pace in both the sessions.

Deft deflection

In the 47th minute, Raja was once again in the thick of things. This time, his drive was deftly deflected home by Nandakumar. Loyola forced as many as 10 penalty corners, eight in the first half alone.

The winner received Rs. 4,000 while the runner-up got Rs. 3,000.

V. Baskaran, former India captain, gave away the prizes in the presence of Loyola College Principal, Fr. Albert Muthumalai.

The results (final): Loyola Whites 2 (Kousikan, Nandakumar) bt St. Joseph’s College of Commerce (Bangalore) 0.

Third place: Loyola Yellows 5 (Rajkumar, Vinoth Rajamani, Maria Jose, Manikandan, Radhakrishna) bt Nandha College (Perundurai) 3 (Sivasankar, Premkumar, Thavasiappan), via tie-breaker. Full Time: 1-1.

Special prizes: Player of the tournament: Vijaya Kumar (Loyola Whites); Best forward: Kousikan (Whites); Best midfielder: Chandra Verma (St. Joseph’s); Best defender: Raja (Whites); Best goalkeeper: D. Vasantha Kumar (Nandha College).