The Hindu : DAV storms into semifinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 19, 2004

Sport

Sport - Hockey

DAV storms into semifinals

NEW DELHI, FEB. 18. Defending champion DAV College, Jalandhar, announced its readiness for yet another title, as it overwhelmed Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Yamuna Nagar, 8-1 after leading 3-1 at the interval, in the quarterfinals of the ONGC Nehru Champion Colleges hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here on Wednesday.

The speed and strike-power of the Jalandhar team was on display straightaway, as the team got into the scoring business in the sixth minute, after wasting two penalty corners.

Amarjit Singh opened the account for the Jalandhar team off its third penalty corner.

Soon, Gurpreet Singh followed suit with a snap shot and Navpreet Singh dragged the ball into the board off the team's fifth penalty corner.

Sukhwinder pulled one back for the Yamuna Nagar team at this stage, to offer some hope of a contest.

However, it was not to be, as the Jalandhar lads smashed five goals in the space of 20 minutes in the second half in thoroughly entertaining the holiday crowd.

Ravinder Singh struck twice and so did Damandeep Singh with his swift reaction, be it in capitalising on a rebound or providing the touch for a sharp deflection. Roop Singh completed the tally with a reverse hit.

In the semifinals, DAV College will be challenged by Faculty of Humanity, Varanasi. The latter prevailed 4-3 in the tie-break after being tied 1-1 against St. Xavier's College, Ranchi, in another quarterfinal.

It was the Ranchi team that shot ahead in the 30th minute following a penalty stroke conversion by Thomas Nag.

The Varanasi team responded with a goal 15 minutes on resumption with Mohammed Ali finding the target off a pass from skipper Pratap Singh.

In the tie-break, Amjad Khan, Manish Shahi, Amit Singh and Shashikant Singh converted the chances for the Varanasi team, while Pratap Singh's feeble push was stopped by the Ranchi goalkeeper Cyril Toppo.

The Ranchi team had started the tie-break confidently through the conversions by Thomas Nag and Vikram Mundu, but Prakash Kerketta and Bipin Tete spoilt the momentum with poor attempts.

Eventually, when Sunil Tirkey converted the fifth attempt, the Ranchi team was left to pray that its rival would miss the target with its fifth chance. The prayers were not answered, as Shashikant Singh sounded the board to trigger a round celebration in the Varanasi camp.

In the other semifinal, Khalsa College, Patiala, will be challenged by College of Arts and Education, Annamalai.

In the quarterfinals played on Tuesday, College of Arts and Education, Annamalai, beat NAS College, Meerut 4-3. A. Ravikumar (2), S. Chandrasekhar and S. Sudarshan scored for the Annamalai team.

Jatinder Sardha (2) and Satish Kumar found the target for the Meerut team.

In another match, Khalsa College, Patiala, beat St. Joseph College, Bangalore, 1-0, with the goal scored by Jatin Kumar.

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