The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : IOC subdues CRPF to qualify

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

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Sport - Hockey

IOC subdues CRPF to qualify

NEW DELHI, NOV. 16. Indian Oil wore down Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for a 3-1 victory on way to the super league phase of the ONGC-Nehru hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here on Tuesday.

In two second-round matches earlier, Namdhari XI outplayed Sikh Regimental Centre, Ramgarh, 5-2 while South Central Railway, Secunderabad, overcame Air Force 5-4 in the `sudden-death' tiebreaker after a 2-2 draw in regulation period.

With Olympians Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh, along with Inderjeet Singh, on the look-out for the slightest of openings in the IOC frontline, the CRPF defence had its hands full almost throughout the match.

Thakur set up Prabhjot for the opening goal in the 22nd minute on a quick counter attack. Later both missed chances to increase the tally. Thakur was unlucky once in the second half, a post stopping what looked a certain goal.

A penalty corner in the third minute of the second half led to IOC's second goal, with Thakur's push off a pass from Bikramjit Singh finding the goalkeeper. The defence cleared partially, leaving Lakhwinder, standing near the far post, an easy chance to tap in.

Still easier was Thakur's task seven minutes later when goalkeeper Robindro Singh padded a Bikramjit flick off another penalty corner. Thakur was ideally positioned to tap the rebound into the goal. Two more penalty corners came for IOC but they were wasted.

CRPF cashed in on its fourth and last penalty corner in the dying moments, with Mukesh Kumar scooping home, off an indirect effort, to soften the blow.

After being locked 2-2 at the interval, Namdhari XI came back strongly in the second half to pump in three. Skipper Didar Singh scored three goals for Namdhari, two of them following penalty corners, while Harjinder Singh and Karamjit Singh scored the other two. Rajpal Singh and John Minz were the SRC marksmen.

South Central Railway came back twice after being in arrears to eventually edge Air Force in the tiebreaker. Johnson Ekka and Prabhakar Singh scored for the Secunderabad team in regulation time while Mambiraj and Satvir Singh were the Air Force scorers.

In the tiebreaker, A. Bharthi, Johnson Ekka, Prabhakar Singh and Amit Shrivas scored for South Central while T. Minz missed. Bharthi scored again, in the `sudden-death' period to clinch victory. For the losing side, Neeraj Sahu, Mambiraj, Balbir Singh and Satvir Singh scored while Jerome Kujur failed. Balbir missed in the `sudden-death' session.

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