The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Indian Oil and Namdhari advance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005

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Sport - Hockey

Indian Oil and Namdhari advance

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 14. Indian Oil and Namdhari XI scored contrasting wins in their last league matches and made it to the next stage of the National hockey championship here on Monday.

Short corner specialist Bikramjeet Singh banged in two late goals in the first half to give Indian Oil a 2-0 win against Border Security Force (BSF), in a pool II league tie at the National Stadium here.

Despite being given a scare by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Sunday, Indian Oil toyed with the idea of playing the recuperating Deepak Thakur. Coach A.K. Bansal introduced Thakur in the 10th minute and the forward in tandem with fellow striker Prabhjot Singh attacked.

The two created several chances in the second half, but Prabhjot botched up the moves. Thakur, who underwent a nose surgery after being badly hit in a scuffle during the Maharaja Ranjit Singh tournament a fortnight ago, was playing his first match after that incident. He was slow to start with but showed courage to carry on till the end.

The team earned its first penalty corner in the 24th minute and Bikramjeet scored on the second attempt after BSF goalkeeper Subbaiah had palmed the ball back into play. Three minutes later, Bikramjeet's scoop cut through the net for a 2-0 lead.

BSF created a few chances in the second half but failed to finish as Indian Oil goal-keeper Devesh Chauhan warded off the attempts.

High-scoring Namdharis thrashed Steel Authority 11-5 to top pool III. Didar Singh emerged the top scorer of the first stage, scoring 10 goals. On Monday, Didar slotted home three goals as Namdharis raced to a 3-0 lead by the 14th minute. Prabhjot Singh (Sr) also scored three as Namdhari dominated throughout even though Steel Authority managed to retrieve five goals.

In the inconsequential matches, Central Industrial Security Force (CRPF) defeated Postal Board 6-3; and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) beat Customs 3-1.

The results:

Pool II: Indian Oil 2 (Bikramjeet Singh 24 and 27) bt BSF 0.

Pool III: Namdhari XI 11 (Didar Singh 3, 8 and 14, Gurvinder Singh 17, Prabhjot Singh 20, 25 and 39, Harpal Singh 57 and 60, Anmolak Singh 67, Havinder Singh 69) bt Steel Authority 5 (Sushil Kujur 24, Berendra 40 and 64, Leonard 43, Abren Dang 70). CISF 6 (Prateek Kumar 1, G. V. Xaxa 4 and 48, Major Singh 7, Mangra Muna 47 and 60) bt Postal Board 3 (Prakash Chalke 26, Asad Kamal 54 and 63).

Pool IV: ONGC 3 (Ranjit Singh 8, Mohammed Fahad 56, Amarjeet Pratap 60) bt Customs 1 (Rahul Singh 58).

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