The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Chandigarh Dynamos takes Tier-II title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 31, 2005

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Chandigarh Dynamos takes Tier-II title

By V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, JAN. 30. After a dismal performance in penalty corners when he failed with all his seven hits, Jugraj Singh redeemed himself in `sudden-death' to guide Chandigarh Dynamos to a 4-3 win over Delhi Dazzlers in the Premier Hockey League at the Gachibowli Complex here on Sunday.

It was a dull encounter with few good moves on either side. The main drawback for Chandigarh was Jugraj's failure. His drag flick may not be as powerful as it was before the accident which forced him to take a long break from the game. None of Jugraj's direct hits could get past the alert Delhi goalkeeper Jasbir Singh who brought off some fine saves. So disappointed was the Chandigarh thinktank that it preferred variations for indirect hits and even this failed to produce any result.

Cards galore

As the match progressed, the referees were more busy whipping cards, particularly to the Delhi players who argued with them at every possible opportunity. Two Delhi players, Raju and Ajitpal Singh, and Chandigarh's Raj Pal Singh were given yellow cards for rough tackles and verbal abuse. Even Delhi skipper Raghuvanshi was shown the yellow card.

For Chandigarh, the trio of Raj Pal, Ravi Pal Singh and Harbhanjan Singh had a poor day when it came to finishing. As a result, the teams were goalless at the end of four quarters.

In extra-time, with the golden goal rule, Chandigarh could have scored the match-winner but was unlucky to see Raj Pal's reverse hit rebound off the horizontal. Soon, Raj Pal earned the ninth penalty corner and Jugraj's feeble push was saved again.

In the tie-breaker, the teams were 3-3 with Raj Pal, Devinder Singh Bath and Harbhanjan converting for Chandigarh and Amit, Raju and Gurcharan Singh doing so for Delhi. In sudden-death, Jugraj was on target while Amit's hit was blocked.

Earlier in the morning, Imphal Rangers edged out a fighting Bengal Tigers 10-9, via sudden-death.

Gurcharan's record

Gurcharan Singh emerged the highest goalscorer in Tier II with 12 and was given a cash award of Rs. 50,000. M. Chittaranjan of Imphal was named `Player of the Tier II league' and presented Rs. 75,000.

Chandigarh Dynamos was richer by Rs. four lakhs while Delhi Dazzlers took home Rs. 2.5 lakhs. Lucknow Nawabs, which finished third, won Rs. 1 lakh.

Sultans beats Veerans

On Saturday, Hyderabad Sultans overcame early blues to record a hard-fought 2-1 win against Chennai Veerans in a Tier I match.

The first two quarters failed to break the deadlock before a superb effort by Ajitesh Rai, who latched on to a lovely cross from Samir Dad from the right, opened the account for Sultans in the 40th minute. Sultans' joy was shortlived as Veerans scored the equaliser as Adam Sinclair capitalised on a defensive lapse by Dilip Tirkey. Sinclair ran down the centre, drawing the goalkeeper out before placing the ball into the goal in the 41st minute.

Then, a gem of a move from Ajitesh Rai saw Sultans nose ahead. The Air India Academy product ran past a couple of defenders closely marking him and relayed a perfect through pass to Waseem Ahmed. The latter slipped into the strike zone and deflected the ball home in the 46th minute.

Final standings (Tier II): Chandigarh Dynamos 8-8-0-23; Delhi Dazzlers 8-6-2-19; Lucknow Nawabs 8-3-5-10; Imphal Rangers 8-3-5-7; Bengal Tigers 8-0-8-1.