The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Delhi defeats Patiala

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

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Sport - Hockey

Delhi defeats Patiala

By Our Sports Reporter

JABALPUR, NOV. 16. Delhi squandered several scoring chances early on, but its relentless attack finally bore fruit as it subdued group favourite Patiala 2-1 in a pool `E' league match of the 33rd Junior National hockey championship here on Tuesday.

Striker Prem Kumar scored on either side of the interval as Delhi rallied after the 14th minute goal by Sachin Kumar. The third-straight win placed Delhi in an enviable position to qualify for the quarterfinals. Delhi plays Rajasthan on Wednesday and even a draw will suffice for it to enter the knockout phase.

Delhi played scratchy hockey at the start, Damandeep frittering three sitters in the first five minutes of the match. As the moves created by Vikash and Prem Kumar failed to fructify, Patiala tried to cash in on its opponents' frustration. Tempers soon flared and the Delhi defenders fouled to give Patiala a penalty stroke. Sachin Kumar made no mistake.

Just before the interval, Vikash moved upfront and sent in a cross which Prem Kumar (29th) deflected in nicely. Ten minutes into the second half, Delhi earned a penalty corner, which Prem Kumar converted into the winning goal.

Drawn encounter

In a pool `A' match, Orissa and Chandigarh exchanged several hot moments before their league encounter ended in a 1-1 draw. Orissa, with a couple of international strikers on its side, received a rude shock as Chandigarh proved a tough nut to crack. In fact, Chandigarh controlled the pace of the match from the start despite Orissa taking early lead. Theodore Samad had put Orissa ahead in the fourth minute.

Playing attacking hockey, Chandigarh made several forays into the rival camp but its finish was sloppy. On change of ends, Chandigarh's frequent attacks left Orissa in a tizzy. There were heated exchanges, both with words and sticks, forcing the umpires to intervene.

Jhujhar Singh struck home in the 40th minute to give Chandigarh a good chance in pool `A'. It has a win and a draw with a match against Bhopal remaining, while Orissa also has a similar equation with a match against Maharashtra in hand. The only difference being Orissa's plus-five goal average as against Chandigarh's plus two.

PSB too good

At the Police Sadium, defending champion Punjab and Sind Bank proved too good for Goa, winning 6-0; Bengal defeated Haryana 2-0 while Tripura defeated Hyderabad 3-2.

Ruplal Xalxo gave Bengal a reason to celebrate as he struck twice within four minutes with 10 minutes left in the match.

The results (league):

Pool A: Orissa drew with Chandigarh 1-1.

Pool B: Uttar Pradesh bt Kerala 2-0.

Pool C: Gujarat bt Andaman and Nicobar Islands 5-0, Jharkhand bt Manipur 3-1.

Pool D: Services bt Uttaranchal 7-0, Punjab bt Andhra Pradesh 7-0, Air India bt Uttaranchal 5-0.

Pool E: Rajasthan bt Namdhari 3-1, Delhi bt Patiala 2-1.

Pool F: Mizoram bt Madhya Bharat 1-0, Vidarbha bt Tamil Nadu 1-0.

Pool G: Punjab and Sind Bank bt Goa 6-0, Tripura bt Hyderabad 3-1.

Pool H: Bengal bt Haryana 2-0, Chhattisgarh bt Pondicherry 1-0.

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