The Hindu : India leaves Pakistan green with envy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 01, 2003

Sport

Sport - Afro-Asian Games

India leaves Pakistan green with envy

By V. V. Subrahmanyam

VICTORY LAP: Ecstatic Indian players respond to the cheers of the crowd after the host nation beat arch-rival Pakistan 3-1 in the men's hockey final of the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad on Friday. — PTI

HYDERABAD OCT. 31. Befitting the grand setting under floodlights, Dilip Tirkey's boys made it a fabulous finish with an emphatic 3-1 victory over archrival Pakistan to clinch the gold in the men's hockey competition of the inaugural Afro-Asian Games at the Gachibowli Hockey Complex here tonight.

It was a truly outstanding performance from the host which was determined to extend its domination over its neighbour. In the process, India proved that it had the firepower and temperament to win back-to-back matches against the Pakistanis even in a major event.

As expected, the final got off to an exciting start with Pakistan showing more urgency in the beginning.

But it was the Indians who earned a penalty stroke after a counterattack, a decision which was vociferously protested by the Pakistan camp. Referee Paul Ludwig stuck to his decision and Arjun Halappa converted. India took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute.

Pakistan had its first penalty corner in the 10th minute but Ghazanfar Ali's clean hit was deflected to safety by Devesh Chauhan. It was pleasing to see the Indian defenders display guts and imagination under pressure even while tackling the hard-hit penalty corners. Bimal Lakra was easily the pick in this department.

Even as India went on the offensive with Halappa complementing Prabhjot, it was Pakistan which stunned the near-capacity crowd by converting a penalty corner in the 15th minute as Ghazanfar was on target to make it 1-1.

With the pressure building up, there was a running verbal duel between Gagan Ajit and Tariq Imran. India also had the misfortune of seeing Viren Rasquinha sent off for a rough tackle on the advancing Rehan Butt in the 20th minute. Soon Pakistan got its third penalty corner but yet another splendid save, this time by Ignace Tirkey, denied it a goal.

It was then India's turn to test the Pakistan defence and earn its second penalty corner in the 25th minute. When captain Dilip Tirkey failed to take it cleanly, an alert Deepak Thakur could have capitalised on the deflection but the latter hit out.

But Dilip Tirkey made amends soon as he deceived the Pakistanis in the 33rd minute and made room for Len Aiyappa to take a penalty corner. The latter's rasping drive stunned the Pakistan camp and India went into half-time 2-1.

India took a decisive 3-1 lead in the 59th minute. The move began from close to the half-line on the left-flank when Prabhjot's oppurtunism saw him latch on to a loose ball and run towards the centre where Gagan Ajit took over.

Peach of a goal

Dribbling past a couple of closely-marking defenders, the wily forward bamboozled the Pakistanis with superb stickwork, drawing the goalkeeper to the wrong side before executing a fine carpet drive to the left of the goal. It was an effort that appropriately triggered a long wave of celebration.

After Gagan Ajit's beauty, it was not just the Indian forwardline which gave a harrowing time to the Pakistanis. Even the boisterous crowd which kept chanting `c'mon India, c'mon India' seemed to have affected the Pakistan morale. Though there were a few counterattacks, Devesh Chauhan continued to frustrate the Pakistan camp, often taking too long to adjust his gear and prompting Hassan Sardar to complain to the table officials. Devesh was, however, too good to breach. That Ghazanfar resorted to an indirect hit off the ninth penalty corner proved Devesh's class.

When the final hooter was sounded, it signalled India's supremacy not only in the tournament but also proved that the team was no longer daunted by the prospect of facing the Pakistanis. And what better way to bring down the curtains on the inaugural Afro-Asian Games than a gold medal!

Other results:

Third place: Korea bt Malaysia 2-1; Fifth place: South Africa bt Egypt 3-2; Seventh place: Nigeria bt Ghana 3-2.

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